THE 


IOWA    BAND. 


BOSTON: 

CONGREGATIONAL   PUBLISHING   SOCIETY. 
1870. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1870,  by 

THE  CONGREGATIONAL  PUBLISHING  SOCIETY, 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


RAND,    AVERY,   &    FRYE,    PRINTERS,    BOSTON. 


ike  Siev.  Asa  burner. 


DEAR  BROTHER : 

It  was  in  November,  1843,  that  you  welcomed  to  your  home,  your  people, 
and  the  West,  the  brethren  since  known  as  THE  IOWA  BAND.  At  that  time,  as 
composing  the  ordained  ministry  of  our  denomination  in  the  then  Territory  of 
Iowa,  there  were  with  you  six  others;  to  wit,  JULIUS  A.  REED,  REUBEN 
GAYLORD,  CHARLES  BURNHAM,  ALLEN  B.  HITCHCOCK,  OLIVER  EMERSON, 
and  JOHN  C.  HOLBROOK.  From  these,  too,  came  a  cordial  welcome. 

This  was  twenty-five  years  ago  ;  bringing  us,  and  our  mission  work  here,  to 
the  Silver-Wedding  time.  It  is  usual,  on  such  occasions,  in  the  presence  of 
friends  whose  sympathies  make  the  joys  common  to  all,  to  revive  the  history  of 
the  parties,  and  reminiscences  of  the  past. 

In  this  little  book,  as  a  Home  Missionary  offering  in  honor  of  that  noble 
Society  which  we  all  love,  there  is  given,  first,  a  brief  history  of  the  BAND,  fol- 
lowed by  a  few  facts  and  scenes  from  out  our  common  efforts  ;  with  such  re- 
flections, in  passing,  as,  by  a  review  of  quarter-century  labors,  are  naturally 
suggested  :  all  of  which,  with  due  thanks  to  the  Master,  you  will  permit,  as  one 
of  the  first  Congregational  Ministers  of  Iowa,  and  one  whom  we  all  love  to  call 
FATHER  TURNER,  to  be  to  you  dedicated 

BY    ONE    OF    THE    BAND. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 
GERM-THOUGHT 13 

CHAPTER  II. 
A  SUGGESTION  16 


CHAPTER  III. 
THE  PRAYER-MEETING 20 

CHAPTER   IV. 
THE  BAND  FORMED,   AND  PLANS  MATURED 23 

CHAPTER  V. 
THE  JOURNEY 27 

CHAPTER  VI. 

ORDINATION  AND  DISPERSION 34 

CHAPTER  VII. 
GETTING  TO  WORK  AND  COALESCING 38 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
A   DIARY 45 

CHAPTER  IX. 
THEN  AND  Now 57 

CHAPTER   X. 
THE  WORKERS 69 

CHAPTER  XI. 

RESULTS   .  7Q 


6  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XII. 
THE   IOWA  ASSOCIATION go 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
IOWA  COLLEGE  102 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
i 
A   RARE  CHAPTER,   AND  SHORT 114 

CHAPTER  XV. 
FRAGMENTS 121 

CHAPTER    XVI. 
Loss  AND  GAIN 153 

CHAPTER   XVII. 
IN  MEMORIAM 164 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
OUTLOOK  AND  CONCLUSION 176 


INTRODUCTION. 


IF  any  one  ever  doubted  the  utility  and  success  of 
home-missions,  let  him  read  this  volume.  If  any 
one  ever  doubted  whether  his  contributions  to  this  cause 
were  wisely  made  and  expended,  let  him  study  this 
simple  narrative  of  Christian  labors  in  a  new  Territory 
and  State. 

Prior  to  1839,  the  region  covered  by  this  work  was 
Wisconsin  Territory ;  then  it  became  Iowa  Territory  : 
and,  when  the  Band  entered  it  in  1843,  the  settled 
portion  of  it  was  a  belt  of  land  on  the  west  bank  of 
the  Mississippi,  two  hundred  miles  long  and  forty  wide, 
with  a  population  of  something  over  fifty  thousand.  The 
country  was  then  divided  between  the  hardy  pioneer,  the 
Indian,  and  the  buffalo.  There  were  fifteen  Congrega- 
tional churches.  The  college,  the  academy,  had  not  gone 
over  the  great  river ;  hardly  the  common  school  and  the 
Christian  Sabbath.  It  was  a  noble  sight,  —  an  act  of 
quiet,  beautiful  heroism  rarely  witnessed,  -T—  to  see  these 
twelve  men  enter  in  to  do  their  part  in  building  a  Chris- 


8  INTRODUCTION. 

tian  State,  and  dedicating  the  latent  and  developing 
energies  there  to  Christ  and  the  Church. 

It  was  hard,  unseen,  unappreciated  labor.  The  very 
word  Iowa  was  yet  a  strange  one  to  Eastern  lips  and 
ears,  and  was  slowly  taking  its  place  in  our  text-books 
and  schoolrooms.  The  men  were  hidden  from  us  in  the 
dim,  hazy  distance,  under  frontier  shadows.  Bridle- 
paths, ugly  fords,  and  monthly  mails  led  to  their  work- 
fields  ;  but  the  Master  knew  each  of  their  cabins,  heard 
every  prayer  and  hymn  in  their  creek  and  prairie  homes, 
and  owned  all  their  great  work.  What  though  "men 
did  not  see  their  rough  foundations  for  Church  and  State  : 
we  see  now  what  is  built  on  them.  In  a  sublime  uncon- 
sciousness of  their  obscurity,  they  lost  themselves  in 
their  work.  So  noble  granite  blocks  disappear  in  the 
deep  waters,  that  there  may  be  piers  and  wharves  for 
queenly  ships  and  the  merchandise  of  all  climes. 

This  volume  would  not  be  complete  without  its  pic- 
ture of  the  rude  log-cabin  church  where  they  were 
ordained,  and  laid  their  plans,  and  whence  they  moved 
off  in  their  different  and  chosen  paths.  It  was  a  solid, 
one-story  building,  originally  twenty-four  feet  by  twenty. 
Built  in  1837,  when  there  was  no  saw-mill  in  the  region, 
its  rough  logs  were  dressed  down  by  the  axe  of  the 
pioneer ;  split  shingles  covered  the  roof,  and  oaken  pun- 
cheons made  the  floor  and  the  seats  —  the  pews !  After- 
ward, but  before  the  ordination  in  1843,  an  addition  of 
sixteen  feet  was  made  to  one  end.  This  was  the  first 


INTRODUCTION.  9 

Congregational  meeting-house  in  Iowa ;  and  here  noble 
and  good  Father  Turner  was  for  so  long  a  time  "  the 
voice  of  one  crying  in  the  wilderness,  Prepare  ye  the 
way  of  the  Lord  !  "  The  benediction  of  his  face  is  the 
fitting  prelude  and  preface  to  this  volume.  How  often 
his  deaf  old  father  spoke  to  us  reverently  and  affection- 
ately of  the  work  "  Asa "  was  doing  in  the  "  Great 
West !  "  While,  in  our  college  vacations,  we  were  mow- 
ing for  the  old  gentleman  where  there  were  two  rocks 
to  one  grass,  "Asa"  was  planting  the  "handful  of 
corn."  Now  the  fruit  thereof  shakes  like  Lebanon, 
and  the  hundreds  of  cities  of  Iowa  flourish  like  the  grass 
of  their  native  prairies. 

This  same  log-church,  moreover,  was  the  first  acad- 
emy-building in  Iowa.  Here  Denmark  Academy  had 
its  humble  yet  noble  beginnings  in  the  February  pre- 
ceding the  ordination.  A  view  of  its  present  beautiful 
edifice  graces  this  volume. 

Here,  too,  Iowa  College  was  first  talked  over, 
prayed  over,  and  then  projected.  It  was  one  of  the 
first  joys  and  fruits  for  the  Band,  at  one  of  their  first 
meetings  in  Denmark,  to  consider  plans  for  founding 
the  first  college  in  Iowa.  Midway  in  these  sketches,  the 
buildings  now  lift  themselves  to  our  view  from  their 
interior  and  glorious  prairie-home.  How  much  of 
heroic  history  and  august  prophecy  in  that  picture  ! 

In  days  to  come,  Denmark,  Iowa,  will  be  as  a  shrine 
for  Congregational  pilgrims  ;  and,  five  centuries  hence, 


IO  INTRODUCTION. 

how  much  would  be  given  for  one  log  from  that  old 
church  !  The  place  was  settled  originally  by  immigrants 
from  Massachusetts  and  New  Hampshire.  Of  course, 
true  to  New-England  character  and  habit,  they  would  at 
once  start  a  church  and  a  school.  New  Englanders 
come  honestly  by  such  a  tendency.  When  John  Win- 
throp,  the  first  governor  of  Massachusetts,  was  seeking 
a  new  home  in  England,  long  prior  to  his  coming  to 
America,  he  wrote  to  his  son,  acting  as  his  agent,  "  I 
would  be  near  church  and  some  good  school."  May 
that  aspiration,  so  long  hereditary,  never  die  out  among 
the  descendants  of  the  Pilgrims  and  Puritans  !  That 
sentiment  of  Winthrop  is  the  larger  and  better  part  of 
our  national  history,  compressed  into  a  sentence. 

Iowa  now  has  her  more  than  two  hundred  Congrega- 
tional churches,  the  common-school  system,  highly  per- 
fected from  the  Eastern  model,  with  a  noble  array  of  high 
schools,  academies,  and  colleges.  It  is  a  record  of 
honor ;  and  eminently  fitting  it  is  that  these  labors  and 
fruits  of  twenty-five  years  should  go  into  written  history. 
This  is  the  Congregational  chapter.  Noble  co-workers 
have  material  they  may  well  rejoice  in  for  other  most 
worthy  chapters. 

It  should  be  here  said  that  these  sketches  have  been 
modestly  held  back  and  reluctantly  given  by  men  who 
preferred  rather  to  do  work  than  tell  of  it.  But  we 
remember  how  Iowa  looked  before  the  Band  saw  it, 
—  when  Keokuk  was  a  village  of  twelve  log  and  two 


INTRODUCTION.  I  I 

frame  houses  ;  when  Burlington  showed  the  green  stumps 
in  its  main  streets ;  when  Davenport  was  barely  the 
superior  rival  of  Rockingham ;  and  buffalo,  deer,  and 
Indians  divided  among  themselves  the  waters  of  the 
Des  Moines,  Cedar,  and  Wabessapinecon.  We  have 
watched  the  magic  change,  and  studied  it  in  frequent 
revisits ;  and  it  seems  but  due  to  God  to  tell  how  he  has 
made  the  wilderness  a  fruitful  field. 

A  Christian  State  has  been  founded.  Let  sceptics  study 
the  work,  who  think  we  have  no  longer  need  for  the  Chris- 
tian religion.  The  Church  of  Christ  has  lengthened  her 
cords  and  strengthened  her  stakes.  Let  the  supporters 
of  home-missions  behold,  and  thank  God ;  and  so  draw 
dividends  on  their  charity  investments,  and  take  new  stock 
in  new  States  beyond.  The  Congregational  Church  has 
gone  into  a  new  territory,  and  became  energetic,  thrifty, 
and  multitudinous.  Let  those  make  note  of  it  who  think 
Congregationalism  will  not  work  well  out  of  New  Eng- 
land, is  not  adapted  to  a  new  country  and  mixed  com- 
munities. As  if  sacred  Republicanism  cannot  go  hand 
in  hand  across  the  continent  with  secular  Republicanism, 
and  men  manage  their  own  affairs  by  popular  suffrage 
in  a  church,  as  well  as  in  a  town,  city,  or  State !  Con- 
gregational funds  have  had  denominational  investment 
in  Iowa.  Let  results  so  eminently  satisfactory  confirm 
our  churches  in  the  wisdom  of  such  investments.  Another 
step  of  divine  Providence  is  taken  westward  in  fulfil- 
ing  the  prophecy,  "  He  shall  have  dominion  from  sea 


12  INTRODUCTION. 

to  sea,"  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.  Another 
Christian  State  is  added  to  the  frontier,  looking  towards 
the  great  sea.  The  base-line  of  the  army  of  occupa- 
tion for  Christ  is  moved  so  much  farther  towards  the 
prophesied  boundary.  What  new  Bands  will  now  go 
out  to  the  front,  and  picket  the  advancing  army?  By 
and  by  they  will  meet  those  coming  up  the  Pacific 
slope :  then  will  the  watchmen  see  eye  to  eye,  and  re- 
joice together  ;  then  will  glory  dwell  in  the  land. 

W.   B. 

READING,  MASS.,  May,  1870. 


THE  IOWA  BAND. 


CHAPTER     I. 

GERM-  THO  UGHT. 

IT  was  a  beautiful  evening  in  the  summer  of 
1842,  when  the  students  of  Andover  Seminary 
assembled  in  the  chapel,  to  be  led,  as  usual,  by 
one  of  the  venerable  professors  of  those  days,  in 
their  evening  devotions.  Among  them  sat  one, 
pale  and  emaciated  by  continued  illness,  —  one  of 
whom  friends  began  to  whisper,  "  Unless  relieved 
soon,  we  fear  he  will  never  be  well,  even  if  he 
lives."  They  might,  perhaps,  have  spared  a  por- 
tion of  their  anxiety,  had  they  known  better  the 
nature  of  his  disease  ;  it  being  what  may  be  called 
the  student's  enemy,  dyspepsia,  and  that  not  of  a 
chronic  form. 

Our  friend  was  in  the  middle  year ;  a  year  when 
theological  subjects,  the  great  'doctrines  of  salva- 
tion, are  studied  ;  a  year  that  has  more  influence, 
probably,  in  shaping  the  minister,  thian  any  other 
of  his  seminary  course ;  a  year  in  which,  if  ever, 


14  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

the  student's  heart  kindles  with  desire  to  preach 
the  great  truths  of  the  Bible  to  his  fellow-men. 
He  had  entered  the  chapel  that  evening  under  the 
combined  influence  of  his  studies  and  his  disease. 
He  longed  for  the  time  when  he  should  be  a 
preacher  ;  but,  then,  could  he  be  one  ?  Even  the 
duties  of  the  Seminary  were  a  burden  almost  too 
heavy  to  be  borne.  Could  he,  then,  go  forth  to 
write  two  sermons  a  week,  attend  funerals,  wed- 
dings, prepare  lectures,  perform  pastoral  labor,  and 
all  the  et-cetera  of  a  parish  minister's  life  ?  Im- 
possible! Sedentary  habits  had  already  induced  a 
disease,  which,  if  unchecked,  would  cripple  his  en- 
ergies, while  shortening  his  days.  A  minister's 
life  was  likely  to  aggravate  rather  than  check  it. 
What  should  he  do  ?  Must  he  abandon  his  long- 
cherished  plan,  or  should  he  press  on,  and  give 
himself  an  early  sacrifice  to  it  ? 

Just  then  there  came  to  his  mind  the  thought 
that  there  was  a  field  where  the  necessary  labors 
of  a  minister  would  probably  counteract,  rather 
than  foster,  his  disease  ;  -and  that  field  the  West. 
With  this  came  a  rush  of  other  thoughts,  of  things 
that  he  had  heard  and  read  about  the  West.  It 
would  be  self-denial  to  go  ;  but  then,  in  self-denial 
there  would  come  strength  of  character,  with  the 
gain  of  a  more  conscious  consecration  to  God. 
Then  there  was  the  probable  influence  of  his  going 
upon  fellow-students,  friends,  Christians,  and  the 
Church  ;  for  to  go  West  then  was  truly  a  mission- 
ary work.  For  the  moment,  he  seemed  to  be  there, 


GERM-THOUGHT.  15 

preaching  to  the  destitute,  and  laying  the  founda- 
tions of  society.  Then  came  the  thought,  that, 
possibly,  he  might  live,  labor,  and  die  with  the 
fruits  of  his  toils  about  him,  —  himself  enshrined 
in  the  hearts  of  a  beloved  people,  sought  out  and 
adopted  by  him  in  his  youth. 

These  thoughts,  with  others,  passed  before  him 
with  the  swiftness  of  a  vision.  They  had  for  a 
time  the  effects  of  a  vision.  All  things  else  were 
shut  out.  The  chapter,  the  hymn,  the  singing, 
were  all  unheard.  In  the  general  movement,  he 
rose  for  prayer,  but  not  to  join  in  the  petitions 
offered.  The  spell  was  upon  him,  and  he  seemed 
to  stand  alone  as  before  God,  —  his  feelings,  his 
petitions,  all  embodied  in  one  sentiment,  one  feel- 
ing,—  a  position  of  soul  in  which  his  one  desire 
was,  "  Lord,  prepare  me  for  whatever  field  thou 
hast  before  me.  Prepare  me  for  it,  and  make  me 
willing  to  enter  it." 

He  went  out  that  evening  not  as  he  came  in. 
Henceforth  was  the  prayer,  "  May  I  be  found  in 
the  right  place,  doing  the  right  work  ! "  Here 
was  the  germ,  the  unfoldings  of  which,  unto  the 
fruit  thereof,  we  are  to  trace. 


CHAPTER   II. 

A    SUGGESTION. 

WHO  that  has  passed  a  Seminary  life  has 
forgotten  the  Seminary  tramp,  which 
means  a  long  walk  of  half  a  day  or  so,  generally 
taken  of  a  Saturday  afternoon,  when  students,  in 
little  companies,  are  wont  to  extend  their  rambles 
far  away  from  sight  of  Seminary  walls  and  sound 
of  Seminary  bell  ?  It  was  in  the  spring  of  1 843, 
that  our  dyspeptic  friend,  and  two  of  his  classmates 
were  on  such  an  excursion  amid  the  hills  and  bra- 
cing air  of  the  West  Parish. 

For  two  and  a  half  years,  these  classmates  had 
been  associated  in  sacred  studies  ;  and  they  were 
classmates  indeed.  Circumstances  had  conspired 
to  bind  them  together  with  ties  of  more  than  usual 
strength.  The  time  of  their  preparation  for  the 
great  work  in  view  was  rapidly  drawing  to  a  close. 
And  now,  as  was  natural,  the  conversation  turned 
upon  the  probable  field  of  their  labor.  The  New- 
England  parish,  the  foreign  field,  the  home  field, 
especially  at  the  Far  West,  —  each,  in  turn,  was 
discussed.  The  feeling  seemed  rather  to  incline  to 
the  latter.  The  more  they  talked  of  it,  the  more 
they  felt.  And  now  suggested  one  :  — 


A    SUGGESTION.  I/ 

"  If  we  and  some  others  of  our  classmates  could 
only  go  out  together,  and  take  possession  of  some 
field  where  we  could  have  the  ground  and  work 
together,  what  a  grand  thing  it  would  be  !  "  —  "  So  it 
would,"  was  the  reply.  Then  the  advantages,  the 
difficulties,  and  the  probable  influence  of  such  a 
movement,  were  the  theme  ;  until,  ere  they  were 
aware  of  it,  their  feet  were  again  climbing  the  old 
familiar  hill.  The  declining  sun  hung  low  ;  and 
the  bell,  faithful  to  its  duties,  was  hastening  them 
to  prayers.  "  We  will  think  of  this,"  said  they. 
Thus  the  germ,  ripening  to  a  suggestion,  had 
struck  root  in  other  minds,  the  growth  of  which 
we  are  still  to  follow. 

But  right  here  it  should  be  told  how  God,  as 
afterwards  discovered,  was  leading  other  minds 
also.  In  one  case,  it  was  on  this  wise.  Notice  had 
been  given,  about  this  time,  that  an  elder  of  a 
church  in  Cincinnati  would  meet  the  students,  to 
address  them  on  the  claims  of  the  West.  At  the 
hour  appointed,  there  were  assembled  both  students 
and  professors  ;  but  the  elder  came  not.  Yet  a 
Western  meeting  was  held. 

Venerable  Dr.  Woods  read  a  letter  from  a  good 
deacon  of  a  little  church  away  out  on  the  frontier, 
calling  for  young  men  to  break  to  the  people  the 
bread  of  life.  The  saintly  Edwards  (Bela  B.), 
who  had  just  travelled  West,  and  whose  mind  was 
quick  to  take  in  its  destined  progress,  expressed 
his  belief  in  the  assertion,  bold,  startling,  uncred- 
ited  at  the  time,  that  "  whoever  would  go  West,  in 

2* 


1 8  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

ten  years  would  find  himself  better  off  than  if  he 
had  staid  in  New  England,  and,  better  than  all, 
would  have  the  satisfaction  of  laboring  where  he 
was  more  needed."  Prof.  Emerson,  in  his  off-hand 
way,  declared  that  he  had  no  sort  of  doubt  that  it 
was  the  duty  of  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  stu- 
dents to  seek  fields  of  labor  outside  of  New  Eng- 
land. It  was  a  stirring  meeting.  Many  were  glad 
the  elder  did  not  come. 

The  meeting  was  closed,  and  the  students  dis- 
persed. To  most,  to  all,  perhaps,  save  one,  it  came 
and  went  like  many  another.  There  was  before 
him  a  sleepless  night.  In  his  mind  was  at  work 
another  germ-thought.  "  Out  of  New  England, 
where  more  needed  ? "  And  if  out  of  New  Eng- 
land, where  more  needed,  why  not  where  most 
needed  ?  Strange  was  the  power  of  that  question 
as  it  took  possession  of  him  for  that  night  and  the 
next  day,  leading  to  much  thought  and  prayer ! 
Sometimes  there  can  be  no  rest  till  things  are 
settled,  and  settled  in  the  way  that  seems  right. 
So  it  was  in  this  case  ;  -and  our  friend  came  man- 
fully to  the  conclusion,  "  I  am  for  the  West,  where 
needed,  and  where  most  needed." 

Then  there  was  another,  a  graduate  of  a  Western 
college,  whose  friends  were  in  the  West.  It  was 
known  to  be  settled  in  his  mind,  from  the  first, 
that  he  would  go  West  somewhere.  Just  how,  by 
his  presence  and  intercourse,  germ-thoughts  were 
started  or  fostered  can  never  be  known.  Seldom 
can  it  be  told  in  any  movement,  in  which  are  the 


A    SUGGESTION.  IQ 

united  efforts  of  human  wills,  just  what  the  first 
influences  were,  or  how  they  combined  to  produce 
the  result.  Here,  pre-eminently,  God  works  among 
men  to  will  and  to  do.  The  movement  here 
recorded  we  acknowledge  as  of  him.  Other  germs 
of  it  doubtless  there  were  in  other  minds ;  but 
each  can  give  only  what  to  him  is  known.  This 
only  can  the  writer  do ;  and  so  we  will  follow  on. 


CHAPTER     III. 

THE    PR  A  YER-MEE  TING. 

HOW  uppermost  in  our  minds  are  thoughts, 
plans,  projects,  which  we  hold  in  common 
with  others  !  How,  by  a  new  tie,  are  we  bound  to 
them,  and  they  to  us !  And  how  natural  now,  if 
Christians  all,  and  the  plan  be  one  of  import,  to 
carry  it  to  God  in  united  prayer !  Our  three 
friends  of  the  former  chapter,  among  whom  the 
question  of  concerted  action  had  been  started, 
were  more  closely  allied  than  ever  as  they  together 
walked,  and  talked  of  the  Western  scheme.  By 
mutual  consent,  each,  in  a  quiet  way,  suggested  it 
to  others.  'Whenever  it  took  with  especial  favor, 
as  being  by  God's  preparing  of  course  it  would, 
there  was  one  added  to  their  number. 

Soon  the  enterprise  began  to  wear  an  important 
aspect,  calling  for  the  guidance  of  heavenly  wisdom. 
So  a  prayer-meeting  was  proposed.  All  assented  ; 
but  where  should  it  be  held  ?  Not  in  a  public 
room  ;  for  the  movement  was  as  yet  kept  secret.  If, 
in  the  end,  any  thing  should  come  of  it,  there  would 
be  time  enough  yet,  it  was  thought,  to  make  it 
known  ;  if  not,  it  was  better  that  it  should  always 
be  a  secret.  Nor,  again,  could  they  meet  in  a  pri- 


THE    PRAYER-MEETING.  21 

vate  room  ;  for,  as  yet,  no  two  of  those  interested 
happened  to  be  room-mates,  in  whose  room  they 
could  privately  assemble.  Where,  then,  should  they 
meet  ?  One  of  their  number  was  the  Seminary 
librarian  ;  and  the  library  was  proposed.  "  Agreed,'' 
said  they  ;  and  Tuesday  evening,  in  the  Seminary 
library,  was  fixed  upon  for  the  meeting.  "  But  it 
will  be  dark,"  said  one  ;  "  for  the  rules  forbid  lights 
in  the  library."  —  "  No  matter,"  said  another  :  "  we 
can  pray  in  the  dark."  So  on  Tuesday  nights,  in 
one  corner  of  the  library,  they  used  to  pray,  to 
seek  of  God  whither  to  go,  where  to  labor. 

In  one  corner  of  the  Seminary  library!  —  and 
what  fitter  place  could  have  been  chosen  in  which 
to*  go  to  the  mercy-seat  with  such  an  errand,  than 
this,  where  heralds  of  the  cross  in  every  clime  once 
had  trod ;  where  were  about  them  the  works 
of  the  pious  dead  of  every  age  ;  where,  as  the 
moonbeams  played.upon  the  portraits  of  men  once 
eminent  in  the  Church,  the  great  cloud  of  witnesses 
seemed  to  compass  them  about  ? 

There  they  prayed.  Those  first  entering  would 
find  their  way  to  the  appointed  corner,  and  begin. 
Others,  coming  in,  would  join  them  in  turn.  Occa- 
sionally, in  the  darkness,  some  new  step  would  be 
heard  ;  but  whose  it  was  would  be  unknown  to 
most,  till  a  new  voice  would  be  heard  in  prayer. 
First  the  prayers,  then  the  conference,  consulta- 
tions as  to  motives,  qualifications,  encouragements, 
and  discouragements  of  the  Western  work,  mainly 
what  field,  if  any,  should  be  occupied.  Should  it 


22  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

be  Ohio,  Michigan  ?  These,  indeed,  were  west,  but 
not  really  western.  Illinois,  Wisconsin?  These 
were  farther  west,  indeed,  but  men  partially,  per- 
haps comparatively,  well  supplied. 

"  Well,  then,  Missouri,"  says  one. 

"  But  Missouri  is  a  slave  State." 

"  No  matter :  they  need  the  gospel  there  if  it 
is." 

"  Yes  ;  but,  if  there  are  places  outside  of  slavery 
just  as  needy,  why  not  go  where  we  can  labor  to 
the  best  advantage  ?  " 

"  Well,  Iowa,  then  :  what  say  you  to  the  new 
Territory  of  Iowa  ?  " 

Not  much  could  be  said  ;  for  but  little  was  known, 
only  this  :  it  was  an  open  field,  and  of  course  there 
was  need. 

So  there  they  prayed  and  consulted  in  that 
north-west  corner  of  the  library.  Had  it  any  thing 
to  do  with  the  great  North-West  soon  to  be?  In 
God's  nurture  were  the  germs  being  developed, 
united,  directed,  whose  fruitage  was  to  be  borne  in 
regions  yet  to  be  peopled.  But  we  will  not  antici- 
pate save  in  this  ;  that  Tuesday  night  prayer-meet- 
ing on  Andover  Hill,  transplanted,  as  it  was  soon 
to  be,  to  the  plains  of  Iowa,  —  may  it  long  live ! 
may  it  never  cease  to  be  held  in  sacred  observance 
by  the  Congregational  ministry  of  this  fair  State  ! 


CHAPTER     IV. 

THE  BAND  FORMED,  AND  PLANS  MA  TURED. 

AS  yet,  nothing  was  decided.  All  eyes,  indeed, 
after  reflection  and  prayer,  were  unanimously 
turned  to  the  new  Territory  of  Iowa  as  the  field  to 
be  occupied  if  they  should  go.  Some  of  the  more 
ardent  had  opened  a  correspondence  with  the  sec- 
retaries of  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society  ; 
and  a  resident  pastor  in  the  Territory.  But  no 
also  with  the  Rev.  Asa  Turner,  agent  of  that  society, 
one  was  as  yet  committed  to  the  enterprise.  It 
was  not  certain  yet  that  any  one  could  go  ;  and 
the  weeks  were  flying  swiftly.  It  was  time,  surely, 
for  action,  and  thus  it  came  : — • 

"  I  am  going  to  settle  this  question,"  said  one, 
"  so  far  as  I  am  concerned.  We  have  been  think- 
ing about  it  long  enough  to  conclude  one  way  or 
another." 

That  day,  he  retired  to  his  room  for  fasting  and 
prayer.  At  evening,  as  he  came  out  at  the  setting 
of  the  sun  to  walk  with  a  friend  he  was  ready  to 
say,  — 

"  Well,  I  am  going  to  Iowa  :  whether  any  one 
else  goes  or  not,  I  am  going." 

"And  I  think  I  will  go  with  you,"  was  the  reply. 


24  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

So  a  nucleus  was  formed,  and  around  it  gathered 
others  one  by  one,  —  some  at  once  deciding  ;  others 
after  more  thought,  or  seasons  of  private  fasting 
and  prayer,  till  soon  the  number  stood,  as  decided 
to  go,  at  twelve.  Their  names  were  as  follows  :  — 

Daniel  Lane,  Harvey  Adams,  Erastus  Ripley, 
Horace  Hutchinson,  Alden  B.  Robbins,  William 
Salter,  Edwin  B.  Turner,  Benjamin  A.  Spaulding, 
William  Hammond,  James  J.  Hill,  Ebenezer  Alden, 
jun.,  Ephraim  Adams.  This  was  the  Iowa  Band. 

There  was  no  longer  need  of  secrecy.  Open 
steps  could  be  taken  to  mature  plans.  The  Mis- 
sion Rooms  were  filled  with  gladness  at  the  pros- 
pect of  such  a  re-enforcement  for  the  home  mis- 
sionary work.  The  senior  secretary,  the  Rev. 
Milton  Badger,  D.D.,came  from  New  York  to  hold 
a  personal  interview  with  the  Band  :  commissions 
were  promised  for  their  chosen  field,  and  all  things 
favored  the  enterprise.  But  the  far-off  brethren 
then  laboring  in  the  proposed  field  rejoiced  with 
trembling.  Oft  had  they  looked  for  promised  help, 
but  looked  in  vain.  Those  who  had  started  with 
commissions  in  hand  for  the  distant  Territory  had 
all  lodged  by  the  way  hitherto  :  none  had  reached 
them  ;  why  should  these  ? 

"  It's  no  use,"  said  the  Western  pastor  who  had 
been  written  to  upon  the  subject,  and  who  had  set 
himself  to  the  formidable  task  of  replying  to  the 
long  list  of  queries  sent  him  about  the  climate,  the 
ague,  the  fever,  the  food,  clothing,  etc.  —  "  it's  no 
use  to  answer  any  more  of  your  questions  ;  for  I 


THE    BAND    FORMED.  2$ 

never  expect  to  see  one  of  you  west  of  the  Missis- 
sippi River  as  long  as  I  live." 

He  was  assured,  in  reply,  of  earnestness  in  the 
matter  ;  but  still  he  was  incredulous.  Again  he  was 
told,  that,  God  willing,  he  would  surely  be  visited 
by  a  dozen  or  so,  and  compelled  to  believe. 

"  Well,  then,"  said  he,  "  come  on  ;  come  all  of 
you  directly  to  my  house  ;  come  here  to  us,  and  we 
then  can  help  you  to  your  respective  fields  of 
labor."  This  seemed  reasonable ;  so  Denmark, 
Lee  County,  Io.,  became  a  locality  in  the  mind 
of  each,  as  yet  to  be  seen.  It  seemed  best  also, 
unless,  in  individual  cases,  there  should  be  special 
reasons  to  the  contrary,  that  the  ordination  of  the 
young  men  should  take  place  on  the  field  where 
their  life-work  was  to  be  done. 

Such  a  home  missionary  movement  in  one  class 
was  thought  worthy  of  some  public  recognition. 
Accordingly,  a  meeting  was  held  on  Sabbath  even- 
ing, Sept.  3,  1843,  m  the  South  Church  at  An- 
dover.  A  sermon  was  preached  by  the  Rev.  Leon- 
ard Bacon,  D.D.;  and  an  appropriate  address  made 
to  the  Band  by  Dr.  Badger  of  the  Home  Mission- 
ary Society. 

"  You  go,"  said  he,  "  where  you  will  find  a  soil 
of  surpassing  richness,  all  covered  with  beautiful 
flowers.  But  remember  that  the  soil  is  yet  in  its 
natural  state,  and  must  be  all  turned  up.  Those 
flowers,  though  beautiful  to  the  eye,  are  but  flowers 
of  weeds,  wild  and  useless.  They  must  be  rooted 
out,  and  better  seed  cast  in  their  place." 


26  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

This  meeting  was  large  ;  and  the  exercises 
throughout  were  appropriate,  interesting,  and 
solemn.  It  was  now  near  the  close  of  the  term. 
The  Anniversary  Day  soon  came,  and  was  gone. 
The  time  had  been  improved.  Already  had  the 
boxes  been  made,  and  the  books  packed,  soon 
to  be  shipped,  labelled  "  Burlington,  Io.,  vid  New 
Orleans." 

A  few  weeks  now  with  home-friends,  after  which 
must  be  fixed  the  time  and  place  of  departure. 
Boston  will  not  do  as  a  starting-point,  as  some 
reside  west  of  this,  and  so  on  the  way.  Some 
place  must  be  chosen  west  of  all.  So  each  has  it 
in  his  memorandum,  "  Albany,  N.Y.,  at  the  Dela- 
van  House,  on  Tuesday,  3d  of  October,  the  next 
morning  to  take  the  cars  westward." 


CHAPTER     V. 

THE    JOURNEY. 

ON  Wednesday,  Oct.  4,  1843,  the  journey  west- 
ward began.  Most  of  the  Band  were  at  the 
appointed  place,  but  not  all.  One,  Mr.  E.  Ripley, 
had  been  invited  to  spend  another  year  at  the 
Seminary  as  resident  licentiate.  Another,  Mr.  J.  J. 
Hill,  since  the  parting  at  Andover,  had  lost  a  father 
by  death,  and  would  be  detained  until  spring.  A 
third,  Mr.  W.  H.  Hammond,  did  not  come,  through 
fear  of  a  Western  climate  ;  and  Mr.  H.  Hutchinson 
was  detained  a  day  by  the  death  of  a  friend,  but 
would  probably  overtake  the  company  by  night- 
travel.  And  yet  their  number  was  nearly  complete 
by  the  appearance  of  two  as  twain.  Mr.  D.  Lane 
and  Mr.  A.  B.  Robbins,  with  characteristic  fore- 
sight, had  taken  to  themselves  wives  in  view  of 
losses  from  our  original,  that  might  possibly  occur. 
We  will  not  follow  the  journey  in  detail.  A  few 
points  only  will  be  noticed  in  passing,  such  as, 
after  the  lapse  of  years,  shine  out  brightest  on 
memory's  page.  Twenty-five  years  ago,  a  journey 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Mississippi  was  long  and 
tedious.  A  week  then  would  scarcely  suffice  for 
what  can  now  be  accomplished  in  a  day.  As  prac- 


28  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

tically  performed  by  the  Band,  it  was  divided  into 
three  parts, —  the  railroad,  the  lakes,  and  the  prairies. 
The  first  was  soon  over,  and  soon  forgotten,  bring- 
ing them  on  their  way  to  Buffalo,  then  the  termi- 
nus of  travel  westward  by  cars.  Here  their  recep- 
tion and  stay  for  a  while  were  most  pleasant.  There 
was  then  living  in  that  city,  as  pastor  of  one  of 
the  churches,  that  most  fervent  and  earnest  Chris- 
tian man,  Dr.  Asa  T.  Hopkins.  He  died  Nov.  28, 
1847.  Though  a  stranger  to  all,  he  gave  them  a 
brother's  welcome,  and  commended  them  to  the 
hospitalities  of  his  people..  What  kind  Christian 
families  they  found !  Surely  this  cannot  be  the 
West,  thought  they ;  not  far  enough  yet  for  mis- 
sionary ground. 

On  Saturday,  they  took  a  trip  to  Niagara,  to  gaze 
upon  the  Falls,  that  wondrous  work  of  God  ;  return- 
ing at  night  to  Buffalo  to  spend  the  Sabbath  with 
their  kind-  friends.  It  was  a  bright,  pleasant  day, 
and  their  hearts  were  joyous  within  them. 

On  Monday  morning,  all  felt  as  though  they 
had  enjoyed  the  acquaintance  of  weeks,  and  were 
almost  sad  at  parting.  But  the  parting  came. 
In  the  evening  of  that  day,  Oct.  9,  they  went  on 
board  the  steamer  "  Missouri,"  bound  for  Chicago. 
The  good  pastor,  and  other  Christian  friends, 
accompanied  them. on  board  to  bid  them  God-speed, 
and  say  adieu.  A  hymn  was  sung,  and  a  prayer 
offered.  Beautiful  in  the  bloom  of  youth,  and  with 
sweetest  voice  in  that  evening's  song,  was  the 
sister  of  the  pastor's  wife,  who  stood  among  them 


THE   JOURNEY.  2Q 

there  ;  but  sadly  followed  the  news,  a  few  months 
afterwards,  that  the  rose  was  fading  upon  her  cheek, 
and  soon  again  that  she  was  dead.  By  her  side 
stood  another,  a  little  older  in  years,  but  her  com- 
panion in  the  family,  bidding  with  others  a  last 
farewell,  yet  destined  of  God  soon  to  be  a  sharer 
in  the  fortunes  of  those  to  whom  she  was  saying 
adieu.  The  last  bell  rings,  and  the  planks  are 
ready  to  be  drawn  in.  Already  is  the  hoarse  breath 
of  the  steamer  heard  as  her  whole  frame  quivers 
at  the  life-beats  of  her  engine  ;  and  she  swings 
slowly  round  from  the  pier,  and  takes  her  course. 

"  Adieu,  adieu !  "  and  so  is  the  second  portion  of 
the  journey  begun.  The  wide,  wide  Lakes  were 
entered,  —  all  strange,  all  new,  and  yet  soon  how 
dull !  It  was,  indeed,  with  some  interest  that  they 
touched  at  Erie,  Cleveland,  and  Detroit.  The 
morning  at  Mackinaw  was  bright  and  calm,  and 
the  hour  pleasant,  in  which  they  were  permitted,  in 
the  bracing  air,  to  scale  the  heights  on  shore,  or 
watch  the  trout  in  the  clear  waters  of  the  upper 
lakes.  But,  on  the  whole,  head  winds  and  a  rough 
sea  without,  and  sea-sickness  and  monotony  on 
board,  made  it  any  thing  but  a  pleasant  passage. 

Late  on  Saturday  night,  in  stormy  weather,  they 
had  only  reached  Milwaukie.  There  most  of  them 
left  the  boat  to  tarry  for  the  Sabbath.  A  few, 
either  too  sick  to  leave  their  berths,  or  for  some 
other  special  reason,  remained  on  board  to  arrive  at 
Chicago  in  the  morning.  Those  tarrying  for  the 
Sabbath  had  a  quiet,  pleasant  day,  and  on  Monday 

3* 


3O  THE   IOWA    BAND. 

found  a  boat  to  take  them  on  their  way  to  join 
those  who  had  gone  before  them.  And  so  the 
Lakes  were  passed. 

One  more  experience  now,  —  the  prairies,  the 
great  wide  prairies  of  Illinois,  —  and  the  journey 
will  be  complete.  Almost  two  weeks  had  already 
been  consumed.  Another  would  bring  the  end. 

It  was  in  the  fall  of  the  year,  just  after  harvest- 
time  ;  and  from  all  parts  of  Illinois,  even  farther 
west  than  the  interior  of  the  State,  farmers  were 
coming  to  find  a  market  for  their  wheat  in  the  then 
great  city  of  Chicago,  of  eight  thousand  people. 
On  their  return  home,  these  farmers  were  glad 
to  find  some  traveller,  some  freight,  or  any  thing 
else,  to  take  with  them,  that  might  help  to  bear  the 
expense  of  their  long  journey  to  market.  In  this 
way,  it  was  thought  private  conveyance  could  be 
found  more  comfortable  and  pleasant  than  by  stage. 
So  all  were  busy.  Bargains  must  be  made,  and  can- 
vas coverings  for  the  wagons  ;  provisions  and  gen- 
eral supplies  be  secured  in  true  emigrant  style :  for 
hotels  were  far  apart,  and  the  belated  traveller  was 
often  obliged  to  spend  the  night  on  the  prairie. 

Denmark,  Lee  County,  Io.,  was  now  the  terminus 
looked  for,  but  was  to  be  reached  by  different 
routes.  One  party,  the  brethren  with  wives,  in 
company  with  another  missionary  and  his  wife,  who 
had  joined  them,  were  to  strike  across  for  Daven- 
port on  the  Mississippi,  then  go  by  boat  to  Burling- 
ton, and  thence  to  Denmark.  The  others  were  to 
take  a  more  southerly  course,  direct  to  Burlington, 
and  so  to  Denmark. 


THE   JOURNEY.  3! 

Now  began  Western  life  ;  and,  for  a  while,  it  was 
well  enjoyed.  Now  in  a  slough  in  the  bottom-lands 
of  some  sluggish  stream,  and  now  high  up  on  the 
rolling  prairie :  what  a  vast  extent  of  land  meets 
the  eye !  —  land  in  every  direction,  with  scarce  a 
shrub  or  a  tree  to  be  seen.  How  like  a  black  ribbon 
upon  a  carpet  of  green  stretches  away  in  the  dis- 
tance before  them  the  road  they  are  to  travel !  And 
occasionally  some  far-off  cloth-covered  wagon  like 
their  own  is  descried,  like  a  vessel  at  sea,  rightly 
named  a  "prairie  schooner."  In  the  settled  portions, 
what  farms !  what  fences !  how  unlike  their  Eastern 
homes  !  No  stones,  no  barns,  children  and  pigs 
running  together.  Then  what  places  in  which  to 
sleep !  and  what  breakfasts  !  If  after  a  morning 
ride,  they  made  a  lucky  stop,  such  honey !  such 
milk  !  such  butter  and  eggs  !  and  all  so  cheap  !  — 
twelve  and  a  half  cents  a  meal. 

Day  by  day  they  travelled  on,  gazing,  wonder- 
ing, remarking  and  being  remarked  upon.  Some 
thought  them  "  land-sharks,"  some  Mormons.  But 
even  this  became  at  last  wearisome  and  monoto- 
nous. On  Saturday  afternoon,  the  southern  party, 
worn  with  travel,  halted  at  Galesburg  for  another 
Sabbath's  rest. 

Monday  morning  found  them  early  on  their  way, 
refreshed,  and  eager  for  the  end.  "  To-day,"  thought 
they,  "  the  setting  sun  is  to  look  with  us  upon  the 
great  Mississippi ;  "  and  so  it  proved.  For  an  hour 
or  so,  near  the  close  of  the  day,  they  had  been 
winding  and  jolting  through  timbered  bottom-lands 


32  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

among  huge  trees,  grand  in  their  silence,  gazing 
the  while  earnestly  forward,  till  at  last  it  was 
seen,  —  the  smooth,  broad  bosom  of  the  great  river, 
with  the  last  silvery  rays  of  the  setting  sun  playing 
upon  it. 

"  Three  cheers,"  cried  they,  "  for  the  Mississippi ! " 
Their  hearty  cheers  rang  out  upon  the  forest ;  and, 
in  a  few  moments  more,  they  were  on  the  river's 
bank.  But  the  ferry-boat  had  just  made  its  last 
trip  for  the  day  ;  and,  though  they  hallooed  for 
help,  no  one  responded  to  the  call.  The  twilight 
deepens.  It  is  soon  dark,  save  as  the  stars  and  the 
moonbeams  sparkle  and  dance  upon  the  waters. 
The  hallooing  had  ceased  as  useless,  and  things 
looked  desperate  ;  but  the  dip  of  a  paddle  was 
heard,  and  a  canoe  soon  came  in  sight.  It  was 
a  chance  to  cross  the  river,  —  twenty-five  cents 
apiece,  and  a  bark  of  limited  accommodations. 
Two  declared  they  would  rather  stay  by  the  stuff  all 
night.  The  others  paid  the  price,  and  stepped  in. 
It  was  a  heavy  load  for  a  light  canoe,  and  all  must 
remain  motionless.  So,  in  stillness  and  silence, 
with  God's  stars  looking  down  upon  them,  they 
were  paddled  across  to  Iowa's  shore. 

Now  in  Iowa,  at  Burlington !  Kind  friends, 
even  here,  were  awaiting  their  arrival ;  and,  as  the 
news  spread,  they  were  soon  constrained  to  turn 
from  tavern-fare  to  Christian  homes.  The  watch- 
ers by  the  stuff  came  over  in  the  morning;  and, 
before  another  night,  they  had  travelled  fifteen 
miles  on  Iowa  soil  to  Denmark.  They  had  seen 


THE   JOURNEY.  33 

the  Western  pastor  in  his  home,  and  he  had 
scattered  them  for  hospitality  among  the  members 
of  his  flock.  The  northern  party  soon  came  in 
safety.  All  were  to  rest  a  while,  and  then  scatter. 


CHAPTER     VI. 

ORDINATION    AND    DISPERSION. 

ON  sabbath  morning,  Nov.  5,  1843,  the  usually 
quiet  town  of  Denmark  was  all  astir.  A 
great  event  was  to  occur.  Every  child  had  heard 
that  nine  young  ministers,  fresh  from  the  East, 
had  come  to  preach  in  the  Territory.  In  anticipa- 
tion of  the  event,  the  Rev.  A.  Turner  and  the  Rev. 
R.  Gaylord  had  taken  a  long  tour  to  spy  out  the 
land,  and  decide  upon  the  places  to  be  occupied  ; 
and  on  that  Sabbath  seven  of  these  young  minis- 
ters were  to  be  ordained.  Denmark  then  consisted 
of  a  few'  scattered  farm-houses  of  New-England 
like  appearance  ;  and  convenient  thereto  stood  a 
low,  broken-backed,  elongated  building,  compelled 
as  yet  to  the  double  service  of  school  and  meeting 
house. 

This,  at  the  appointed  hour,  was  the  centre 
of  attraction.  The  council  had  previously  been 
organized,  and  the  candidates  examined.  The 
members  of  the  Band  then  ordained  were,  E.  B. 
Turner,  W.  Salter,  E.  Alden,  jun.,  H.  Hutchinson, 
E.  Adams,  D.  Lane,  and  B.  A.  Spaulding.  With 
them  were  ordained  W.  A.  Thompson,  who  came 
to  the  Territory  about  the  same  time,  and  D. 


ORDINATION    AND    DISPERSION.  35 

Granger,  who  was  already  here  as  a  licentiate. 
The  exercises  were:  Sermon  by  the  Rev.  J.  A. 
Reed,  from  Acts  xx.  28  (the  subject  was,  Pre- 
requisites to  Success  in  the  Gospel  Ministry)  ; 
ordaining  prayer  by  the  Rev.  A.  Turner ;  charge 
by  the  Rev.  C.  Burnham  ;  right  hand  of  fellow- 
ship by  the  Rev.  R.  Gaylord. 

The  house,  of  course,  was  crowded,  and  the  occa- 
sion one  of  great  interest.  To  the  few  brethren 
already  in  the  field,  it  was  a  day  of  rejoicing.  Said 
one  of  them,  "  Such  a  day  I  have  never  seen  before  ; 
such  a  day  I  had  never  expected  to  see  in  my  life- 
time. The  most  I  could  do,  when  alone,  was  to 
weep  tears  of  joy,  and  return  thanks  to  God." 

This  was  an  interesting  and  solemn  occasion  ; 
but  there  had  been,  a  day  or  two  previous,  in  the 
pastor's  study,  a  meeting,  to  the  young  ministers 
of  greater  interest  still.  It  was  a  meeting  in  which 
they  were  to  decide  among  themselves  in  what 
particular  place  the  scene  of  the  future  labors  of 
each  should  be.  In  former  times,  and  far  away, 
they  had  often  met  for  prayer,  often  asked  God  to 
guide  them  in  their  way.  He  had  guided  them  ; 
had  turned  their  hearts  to  Iowa,  and  brought  them 
thither :  and  now,  with  ordination-vows  soon  to  be 
taken,  they  had  met  to  decide  where,  in  the  wide 
field  around  them,  each  should  labor.  It  was  a 
solemn  meeting,  a  delicate  business,  a  time  when 
self  must  be  laid  aside,  and  each  must  be  willing 
to  be  any  thing,  to  go  anywhere.  A  prayer  was 
offered  that  the  Spirit  of  God  might  be  upon  them, 


36  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

and  with  them.  Then  Fathers  Turner  and  Gay- 
lord,  who  had  explored  the  field,  came  in,  and,  map 
in  hand,  described  their  tour,  and  the  places  visited, 
and  retired. 

Now,  by  free  suggestion  and  mutual  consent, 
the  assignment  began.  Brother  Hutchinson,  for 
peculiar  reasons,  as  was  well  known,  was  inclined 
to  Burlington,  and  H.  Adams  to  Farmington.  None 
were  disposed  to  object ;  and  so  their  destination 
was  fixed.  "  Those  having  wives,"  it  was  said, 
"  ought  to  be  provided  for  in  places  as  comfortable 
as  any  in  the  Territory."  A  minister-seeking  man 
from  Keosauqua  had  claimed  Brother  Lane  as  the 
one  of  his  choice.  His  promises  were  fair,  and  he 
was  gratified.  Bloomington,  since  called  Musca- 
tine,  then  "  a  smart  town "  on  the  Mississippi,  of 
four  hundred  inhabitants,  seemed  a  good  place  for 
one  with  a  family  ;  and  so  this,  by  common  consent, 
was  ceded  to  Brother  Robbins  :  and  thus  the  wives 
were  provided  for. 

Away  out  in  the  new  purchase,  in  the  region  of 
the  old  Indian  Agency,  new  fields  were  opening, 
calling  mostly  for  itinerant  labor  for  the  present, 
and  endurance  of  frontier  hardships  as  a  good 
soldier.  Brother  Spaulding  would  as  soon  take 
this  position  as  any  other  ;  and  thither  was  his  face 
turned.  Some  must  go  up  into  the  northern  coun- 
ties of  Jackson  and  Jones.  This  was  far  distant,  to- 
be  sure,  and  the  region  not  thickly  settled :  but  then 
the  more  northern  the  location,  the  more  Eastern 
the  people  ;  and  that  part  of  the  State  would  some 


ORDINATION    AND    DISPERSION.  37 

time  be  filled  up.  Brothers  Salter  and  Turner,  the 
David  and  Jonathan  of  the  company,  rather  liked 
the  idea  of  exploring  this  portion  of  the  field  to- 
gether, and  deciding  for  themselves  where  to  locate. 
This  they  did,  eventually  finding  themselves, — 
the  former  at  Maquoketa,  and  the  latter  at  Cascade. 
The  two  places  yet  remaining,  which  then  seemed 
most  important,  were  Solon  and  Mt.  Pleasant :  for 
these  there  were  two  brethren,  E.  Alden  and  E. 
Adams,  who  said  they  would  settle  the  matter 
by  themselves  ;  which  they  did  by  referring  it 
that  evening  to  Father  Turner.  He  assigned  Mr. 
Alden  for  Solon,  and  Mr.  Adams  for  Mt.  Pleasant. 

So  the  work  was  done  with  perfect  harmony  and 
good  will,  —  quickly  done,  without  an  unpleasant 
word  or  a  jealous  thought  ;  and  every  one  was 
satisfied.  Considering  the  nature  of  the  meeting 
and  the  issue  thereof,  let  God  be  praised  ! 

On  Sabbath  night,  Nov.  5,  1843,  as  eacn  retired 
to  rest  after  having  been  ordained  to  his  work,  he 
had  his  particular  field  in  view.  On  Monday 
morning,  all  was  bustle,  preparatory  to  their  depart- 
ure. Occasionally,  as  they  met  in  passing  to  and 
fro,  there  was  the  grasp  of  the  hand,  the  hearty 
"  good-by  !  "  and  the  "  Lord  bless  you  !  "  "  Let  us 
remember  Tuesday  night,"  was  the  parting  sugges- 
tion. The  meeting  alluded  to  in  the  pastor's  study 
was  the  last  ever  held  by  the  Band  at  which  all  the 
members  were  together.  Such  a  meeting  on  earth 
where  all  are  present,  there  can  now  never  be. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

GETTING     TO     WORK    AND     COALESCING. 

INTIMATELY  connected,  yet  widely  different, 
are  theory  and  practice.  The  theory  we  spin 
out  in  thought,  speech,  and  books  ;  the  practice  we 
find  amid  the  vital  forces,  the  living  issues  and 
interests,  of  actual  life.  Right  here  it  is,  that  our 
previous  instructions  sometimes  appear  almost 
useless,  our  notions  visionary,  and  our  plans  futile. 
For  success  in  any  calling  or  profession,  more  is 
to  be  learned  than  can  be  learned  prior  to  entering 
upon  it.  , 

Of  no  profession,  perhaps,  is  this  more  true  than 
of  the  ministerial.  Against  the  usual  preparatory 
course  through  ten  years  of  study,  in  academy, 
college,  and  seminary,  not  a  word  is  to  be  said  :  it 
is  by  no  means  useless.  In  many  respects,  and  in 
most  cases,  it  is  essential ;  but  it  alone  can  never 
qualify  one  for  the  ministerial  work.  This  is  never 
found  to  be  precisely  what  it  seems  in  books.  It 
includes  many  an  experience  and  emergency,  for 
which  the  previous  training  has  given  no  real  prep- 
aration ;  while  much  of  the  so-called  preparation 
that  has  been  made,  however  cherished  and 
relied  upon,  will  be  found  like  the  armor  of  Saul 


GETTING    TO    WORK    AND    COALESCING.  39 

on  the  youthful  David,  and  can  only  be  put  aside 
as  cumbersome  and  useless. 

Often  the  young  minister  finds  himself  coming 
awkwardly  into  his  calling,  because  he  seeks  to 
carry  into  it  the  full  panoply  of  the  schools,  or 
of  favorite  theological  giants,  instead  of  going  to 
his  work  simply  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.  The 
process  of  getting  to  work  so  as  to  work  success- 
fully, in  which  every  one  has  so  much  to  learn  that 
has  not  been  taught  him  by  books  and  teachers,  is 
always  more  or  less  a  process  of  disappointments 
and  failures.  A  modification  of  previous  views  and 
plans  becomes  necessary.  There  are  frequent  calls 
for  self-adjustments  and  adaptations,  to  meet  un- 
thqught  of  exigencies  ;  so  that  the  man  often,  in 
the  course  of  a  few  years,  comes  out  far  different 
in  many  respects  from  what  he  had  proposed.  So 
it  proved  in  the  case  of  the  classmates,  who,  in  a 
few  short  days,  were,  twenty-five  years  ago,  taken 
from  the  quiet  scenes  of  student-life  at  Andover, 
and  set  down — one  here,  and  another  there  —  as 
home  missionaries  in  Iowa. 

One,  from  the  representations  then  frequent 
respecting  the  moral  wants  of  the  West,  had 
pictured  to  himself  a  country  destitute  of  preachers, 
and  a  people,  with  the  recollections  of  Christian 
homes  fresh  in  their  memories,  all  eager  to  hear  the 
gospel.  He  had  fancied,  that,  when  once  among 
them,  the  simple  announcement  that  he  came  as  a 
minister  would  be  enough  immediately  to  draw 
them  about  him  as  those  famishing  for  the  bread 


4O  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

of  life.     "  Oh,  what  a  joy,"  thought  he,  "  to  be  a 
home  missionary !  " 

Imagine  the  change  in  his  views  as  he  found,  in 
the  place  to  which  he  was  assigned,  the  great 
majority  of  the  people  not  only  just  as  indifferent 
as  elsewhere,  but,  by  the  sharp,  worldly  features  of 
a  stirring  Western  town,  even  more  so.  The.  few 
that  had  any  interest  at  all  in  religious  things  were 
cut  up  into  cliques  and  denominations  of  all  sorts, 
some  of  which  he  had  never  heard  of  before  ;  and, 
to  meet  their  wants,  there  was  a  minister  or 
preacher  of  some  kind  at  every  corner  of  the 
streets,  making  it,  as  the  Sabbath  came,  not  only 
difficult  to  find  a  place  or  an  hour  in  which  to 
preach,  but  more  difficult  still,  to  secure  any  thing 
like  a  stated  congregation  from  Sabbath  to  Sab- 
bath. Here  was  the  theory  of  home-missionary  life 
turning  to  fact. 

Another,  in  his  mind,  had  planned  on  this  wise  :  — 

"  I  am  going  to  Iowa  ;  and,  when  I  get  there, 
I  am  going  to  have  my  study  and  library.  Then  I 
am  going  to  write  two  sermons  a  week  ;  and,  when 
the  Sabbath  comes,  I  am  going  to  preach  them, 
and  the  people,  if  they  want  the  gospel,  must  come 
to  hear."  Well,  he  came  to  Iowa  to  find  his  home, 
for  the  time  being,  in  the  house  of  kind  Christian 
people  ;  in  which  the  one  room  must  answer  all  the 
needs  of  the  family,  with  those  of  the  new  minister 
superadded. 

The  familiar  quilt  of  those  days  partitioned  off 
one  corner  for  his  bedroom  and  study  ;  and  his 


GETTING    TO    WORK    AND    COALESCING.  4! 

study-chair  was  a  saddle.  As  for  written  sermons, 
they  were,  of  course,  few;  and  if  any  one  was  com- 
pelled to  go  about  in  search  of  the  people,  instead 
of  being  sought  by  them,  it  was  he. 

A  third  fancied  that  he  would  have  three  or  four 
preaching-places  far  enough  apart  to  enable  him  to 
preach  on  the  same  subjects  in  each  place.  So  he 
was  calculating  on  time  and  opportunity  to  work 
up  extempore  sermons  of  great  power  on  important 
subjects.  He  found  himself,  and  for  years  has 
stood,  where,  with  some  of  the  same  hearers  from 
Sabbath  to  Sabbath,  the  constant  demand  was  for 
two  written  sermons  to  be  prepared  each  week, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  cut  off  from  the  usual  relief 
of  ministerial  exchange  and  of  annual  vacations. 

Twenty-five  years  ago,  Nauvoo,  the  city  of  the 
Mormons,  was  in  its  glory.  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher 
had  sounded,  through  the  East,  alarms  of  Catholi- 
cism in  the  West.  These  two  opposing  forces,  it 
was  supposed,  would  confront  at  once  any  Chris- 
tian laborer  going  West,  and  meet  him  at  every 
turn.  So  McGavin's  "  Protestantism,"  a  huge  work, 
was  procured  and  studied  ;  the  Mormon  Bible 
perused  ;  and  in  other  directions  special  prepara- 
tions made  to  meet  them  :  for  must  not  the  work- 
man go  forth  prepared  for  his  work  ? 

In  fact,  however,  the  most  of  our  young  missiona- 
ries for  years  never  saw  a  Mormon ;  and,  as  for  Ca- 
tholicism, this  was  by  no  means  the  only  hostile  ism 
in  the  land.  They  found  a  people  starting  homes, 
institutions,  usages,  laws,  customs,  in  a  new  Terri- 

4* 


42  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

tory  ;  gathered  from  all  parts  of  the  country  and  the 
world  ;  coming  together  with  differing  tastes,  preju- 
dices, ideas,  and  plans  ;  and  representing  all  shades 
of  belief  and  disbelief.  Every  phase  of  error,  that 
any  age  or  country  had  ever  seen,  was  here  crop- 
ping out.  They  soon  found  that  they  were  where, 
if  their  lives  were  to  be  of  use,  if  they  were  not 
to  be  swallowed  up  by  the  forces  around  them,  they 
must  be  positive  and  earnest.  They  must  set 
forth  the  best  platform  under  God  they  could,  and, 
as  earnest  men,  set  about  building  thereon.  What 
that  platform  was  to  be,  and  what  the  work  to  be 
done  upon  it,  was  not  so  much  of  a  question  as 
how  to  do  it ;  what  to  unlearn,  and  what  to  learn  ; 
how  to  be  adapted  to  circumstances  ;  when  to  take 
on  new  methods  and  ways,  and  when  to  cling  to 
the  old ;  and  how,  especially,  to  mingle  among  the 
people,  not  only  as  among  but  of  them,  so  as,  by 
identity  of  feeling  and  interest,  to  gain  their  con- 
fidence and  affection,  and  so  an  open  ear,  and,  by 
God's  grace,  an  open  heart. 

After  the  ordination  and  dispersion  came  this 
process  of  getting  to  work,  each  in  his  own  field, 
and  coalescing,  —  this  process,  we  will  not  say,  of 
turning  from  the  Eastern  to  the  Western  man, 
but  rather  of  growing  from  the  Eastern  into  the 
Western,  in  which  somewhat  of  over-niceties,  and 
the  restraints  of  etiquette  and  form,  are  laid  aside. 

"  How  do  you  like  the  new  minister  ? "  was 
asked  of  a  resident  in  a  county  where  one  of  the 
Band  was  thus  getting  to  work.  "  Oh  !  we  all  be- 


GETTING   TO    WORK   AND    COALESCING.  43 

lieve  in  him,"  was  the  reply  ;  showing  how  Eastern 
habits  and  culture  were  no  barrier,  as  they  some- 
times are,  to  access  to  the  hearts  of  the  hardy  pio- 
neers. In  this  process  of  getting  to  work,  in  the 
course  of  a  year  or  two  things  were  fully  settled. 

First,  what,  ecclesiastically,  the  platform  of  the 
missionaries  was  to  be.  This  in  the  case  of  each 
was  Congregational.  With  a  number,  when  they 
came  to  the  Territory,  the  matter  of  church-polity 
was  an  open  question.  Decided  instructions  in  the 
Seminary  had  not  been  given.  There  had  been  no 
conference  respecting  it,  one  with  the  other,  by 
which  any  conclusion  or  agreement  had  been 
reached  as  to  whether  they  should  be  Congrega- 
tionalists  or  Presbyterians.  The  feeling  was,  that, 
very  likely,  some  would  be  one,  and  some  the 
other.  Nor,  after  they  came,  were  any  pains  taken 
by  the  Congregational  brethren  on  the  ground  to 
influence  them  in  this  matter.  But  in  the  provi- 
dence of  God,  by  the  fitness  of  things  soon  per- 
ceived, with  one  consent  they  thought  best  to  build 
upon  what,  with  a  single  exception,  had  been  the 
foundation  of  their  fathers.  In  after-years,  they 
thanked  God  that  it  was  so. 

Secondly,  they  had  in  affection,  feelings,  interest, 
and  aims,  coalesced  with  the  brethren  who  preced- 
ed them.  These  were  few  ;  not  so  many  by  half  as 
those  who  re-enforced  them.  Coming  in  such  com- 
parative numbers  as  classmates  in  the  same  semi- 
nary, as  did  the  Iowa  Band,  and  at  so  early  a  period 
in  the  history  of  the  State,  it  would  not  have  been 


44  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

strange,  if,  in  the  minds  of  the  brethren  already 
here,  there  had  been  the  suggestion  at  least,  if  not 
the  fear,  that  the  new-comers  would  be  clannish  in 
their  feeling,  banded  together,  and  standing  apart 
from  others  ;  not  only  disposed  to  set  aside  those 
who  were  here  before,  but  dictatorial  and  assuming 
over  those  who  should  come  after  them.  If  any 
such  suggestion  or  fear  there  was,  one  year  was 
sufficient  to  dispel  it. 

With  open  hands  and  warm  hearts  were  they  re- 
ceived ;  and  the  common  interests  and  experiences 
of  home-missionary  life  soon  bound  all  together 
as  one.  As  they  coalesced  with  those  who  had 
preceded  them,  so  have  others  coming  later,  till  the 
Iowa  ministry  of  the  Congregational  churches  has 
become  a  band  indeed ;  and  though  that  part  of  it 
known  as  the  Iowa  Band  has  thus  far  been  made 
prominent  in  this  home-missionary  record,  and,  in 
the  circumstances,  may  properly,  perhaps,  occasion- 
ally be  so  made  in  what  follows,  yet  be  it  under- 
stood, that,  as  to  work  accomplished  and  results 
reached,  honor  is  due,  under  God,  not  to  them 
alone,  but  to  all  who  have  labored  with  them,  — 
those  who  have  come  in  at  a  later  period  as  those 
who  were  here  before  them. 


CHAPTER   Vin. 

A   DIARY. 

STILL  further  to  illustrate,  and  as  affording,  to 
some  extent,  a  little  more  of  an  inside  view  of 
this  process  of  getting  to  work,  we  give  in  this 
chapter  a  brief  diary.  It  contains  the  observa- 
tions of  one,  who,  in  that  first  year,  was  called  to 
visit  the  most  of  his  brother  ministers  at  their 
homes.  Initials  only  of  persons  and  places  will 
be  given.  Those  acquainted  will  easily  recognize 
the  most  of  them  ;  for  those  who  are  not,  a  parade 
of  names  is  unnecessary.  The  tour  begins  upon 
the  banks  of  the  Des  Moines  at  K. 

July  1 6,  1844.  —  Here  are  Brother  L.  and  wife  in 
their  little  home  with  two  rooms.  They  have  a 
chair  or  two  now,  and  a  table  ;  but  they  say  they 
set  up  housekeeping  without  either,  using,  instead, 
old  boxes.  They  have  a  church  of  a  few  members, 
a  village  of  promise,  and  the  people  are  kind.  On 
the  whole,  they  are  in  good  spirits  and  hopeful. 
The  church  is  organized  as  Presbyterian  ;  but  its 
members  are  not  all  of  that  way  of  thinking. 
Brother  L.  is  coming  to  be  very  decided  that  Con- 
gregationalism is  the  true  Bible  way  ;  really  quite 
conscientious  about  it.  A  majority  are  with  him 
in  opinion.  How  things  will  turn  out  can't  tell. 


46  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

July  1 8.  —  At  M.  P.  to-night.  Found  Brother  A. 
well.  He  has  a  study  at  a  tavern,  and  "  boards 
round,"  like  a  schoolmaster.  No  church  organized, 
or  next  to  none.  He  groans  over  sects  and  divis- 
ions, and  hopes  somehow  to  get  some  of  them  to- 
gether. Says  he  sometimes  thinks  there  are  more 
ministers  West  than  East.  One  can  do  nothing  in 
this  place  till  he  takes  his  stand,  and  goes  to  work. 
It  is  not  so  much  destitution  as  it  is  the  indis- 
position, selfishness,  and  self-seeking  of  the  human 
heart  here  as  everywhere. 

July  19.  —  Came  up  to  B.  This  is  a  farming 
settlement,  a  number  of  intelligent,  pious  families. 
Brother  B.  is  the  minister  here  ;  used  to  know  him 
in  college.  He  has  a  house  :  it  is  unpainted,  no 
carpets  in  it,  a  poor  fence  around  it,  woodpile  near, 
and  pigs  loose.  Don't  look  much  like  a  New-Eng- 
land parsonage.  I  wonder  if  this  isn't  the  way  for 
a  minister  to  do,  —  to  get  a  home,  and  grow  up  with 
the  people.  Farmers  are  the  basis  of  •  every  thing  ; 
and  he  has  a  good  field. 

Monday,  July  22.  —  This  is  the  State  capital, 
the  great  city  of  Iowa,  of  which  everybody  has 
heard,  of  four  hundred  inhabitants.  It  has  a  pleas- 
ant location,  however,  and  plenty  of  room.  Went 
into  the  State  Library  ;  while  looking  about,  met  an 
old  gentleman,  who  proved  to  be  Gov.  L.,  the 
ex-Governor  of  the  Territory.  He  was  affable,  and 
interested  to  show  me  about  the  city  ;  took  me 
down  half  a  mile  or  so  to  see  some  mineral-springs. 
I  felt  a  little  awkward  to  have  such  attention  paid  me 


A    DIARY.  47 

by  so  old  a  man.  Spent  the  Sabbath  here  with  the 
Rev.  Dr.  W.  of  the  New-School  Presbyterian  church, 
and  preached  for  him.  There  is  an  Old-School 
church  here  also,  but  no  Congregational.  Neither 
of  the  churches  having  any  meeting-house,  they  hold 
meetings  in  the  State  House,  —  one  in  the  Repre- 
sentatives', the  other  in  Senators'  Hall.  These  two 
halls  are  opposite  each  other  ;  so  that,  as  the  doors 
were  open  while  the  people  were  collecting,  when 
we  took  our  seats  in  the  desk,  we  could  look  across 
through  the  opposite  hall,  and  see  the  Old-School 
minister  in  his  desk  at  the  other  end  of  the  building. 
"  Now,"  whispered  the  doctor,  —  "  now  the  watch- 
men see  eye  to  eye."  Didn't  think  'twas  just  the 
place  for  such  a  pun,  —  so  sadly  false  too!  Long 
time,  I  fear,  it  will  be,  before  the  Old-School  friends 
will  see  eye  to  eye  with  the  New-School  brethren, 
or  us  either ;  for  they  look  upon  us  with  suspicion, 
say  we  are  unsound,  and  won't  even  exchange  with 
us.  Oh,  what  a  pity  that  all  these  little  places  should 
be  so  cut  up  !  Glad  we  haven't  any  church  here. 

July  23. —  This  day's  ride  on  my  faithful  pony, 
for  I've  forgotten  to  say  that  I  now  own  one  —  price 
forty-five  dollars,  —  has  brought  me  to  T.,  county- 
seat  of  C.  County.  Here  found  Brother  A.  He 
has  a  study,  a  little  ground-room  right  on  the 
street,  in  a  "lean-to"  of  a  store,  over  which  live 
the  family.  Horses  stand  around,  these  hot  days, 
kicking  the  flies  ;  and,  when  he  is  out,  the  pigs  run 
in,  unless  he  is  careful  to  shut  the  door.  Poor  place, 
I  should  think,  for  writing  sermons.  Partition  so 


48  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

thin,  that  all  the  store-talk,  especially  when  the 
doors  are  open,  is  plainly  heard. 

It  being  Tuesday  evening,  we  of  course  wished 
to  remember  the  Tuesday-evening  prayer-meeting, 
but  wanted  a  more  private  place  for  it :  so  went  out 
in  search  of  one.  Came  to  a  two-story  log-building 
used  for  a  jail,  which  happened  to  be  empty,  with 
the  doors  open.  Went  up  by  an  outside  stairway 
to  the  upper  room,  and  there,  with  the  moon  sailing 
over  the  prairies,  had  our  meeting  ;  prayed  for  each 
other,  for  the  brethren,  for  Iowa,  for  home.  Not 
exactly  like  the  old  Andover  meetings  in  the  libra- 
ry, but  something  like  them.  Coming  down  again 
to  the  ground,  Brother  A.  looked  up  in  his  queer 
way :  "  There,"  said  he,  "  I  guess  that's  the  first 
time  that  old  building  ever  had  a  prayer  in  it."  Just 
as  cheerful  and  funny  as  ever ;  but  he  is  doing  a 
good  work  here,  and  getting  hold  of  the  hearts 
of  everybody.  Indeed,  he  is  becoming  quite  a 
bishop  of  the  county.  "  The  first  time  there  was 
ever  a  prayer  in  it ! "  I  wonder  in  how  many 
places  and  ways  we  shall  do  the  first  things  for 
Christ  in  this  new  country  ! 

July  24.  —  Am  here  in  D.  W.,  a  little  place, 
with  a  few  buildings,  on  a  big  prairie.  But  how  I 
got  here,  which  way  I  travelled,  I  can't  tell.  I  only 
know  that  in  the  morning  I  gave  myself  up  to  the 
pilotage  of  the  mail-carrier.  Soon  after  starting, 
he  turned  his  horse  off  the  road,  into  the  prairie, 
and  I  followed.  Since  then,  my  head  has  been  in  a 
kind  of  whirl,  the  points  of  the  compass  lost ;  and 


A    DIARY.  49 

.1  can  only  think  of  prairie-grass,  bottom-lands, 
sloughs,  a  river  forded,  a  cabin  or  two  by  the  way, 
and  little  groves  here  and  there,  all  jumbled  up 
together.  But  I  am  here  !  Looking  at  the  map,  I 
reason  myself  into  the  belief  that  I  have  really 
travelled  from  T.  to  D.  W.  Here  is  where  Brother 
E.  lives,  a  man  whom  I  have  long  wished  to  see.  It 
was  his  account,  in  "  The  Home  Missionary,"  of  the 
manner  in  which  a  gang  of  horse-thieves  was  broken 
up  at  B.,  that  turned  my  attention  to  Iowa.  Some- 
how I  then  felt  that  there  was  work  to  be  done  in 
such  a  country,  and  that  I  would  like  to  labor  near 
such  a  man  ;  and  here  I  am  at  his  home.  He  is 
a  whole-souled,  earnest  brother,  and  takes  you  right 
in.  No  danger,  I  guess,  that  we  and  those  who 
were  on  the  ground  before  us  will  not  feel  as  one. 

One  good  thing  about  this  trip  is  to  get  ac- 
quainted with  the  older  brethren,  to  see  the  dif- 
ferent fields,  to  know  what  the  land  is.  Brother  E. 
says  he  located  here  because  so  central.  If  this  is 
a  centre,  no  trouble  in  finding  one  on  any  of  these 
big  prairies. 

Jtily  26.  —  Came  up  to-day  to  M.,  where  I  ex- 
pected to  find  Brother  S.  Learning  that  he  was 
absent,  having  gone  north,  came  on  up  through 
A.,  a  little  stumpy  town  in  the  woods,  to  this 
place,  C.,  the  home  of  Deacon  C.  So  I  am  the 
guest,  to-night,  of  one  of  the  direct  descendants 
of  old  John  Cotton  of  Pilgrim  memory,  in  this 
far-off  Iowa ;  and  a  nice  old  man  he  is.  Before 
leaving  the  East,  an  old  Christian  lady,  a  mother  in 


5O  THE    IOWA   BAND. 

Israel,  learning  I  was  going  to  Iowa,  came,  saying 
that  she  had  a  son-in-law  in  Iowa  for  whom  she  felt 
greatly  concerned,  and  gave  me  his  address,  with 
the  injunction,  if  I  ever  went  near  him,  to  go  and 
see  him,  and  do  him  all  the  good  I  could.  I  took  the 
address,  never  expecting  really  to  go  near  him,  but 
find  that  to-day  I  have  passed  right  by  his  door. 
Sorry  I  had  not  kept  it  more  in  my  mind.  This 
impresses  me  more  than  ever  with  one  feature  of 
the  mission-work :  it  is,  to  do  here,  among  the 
scattered  people,  what  the  Eastern  fathers  and 
mothers,  brothers  and  sisters,  are  contributing,  long- 
ing, and  praying  to  have  done.  I  must  be  more 
careful. 

Deacon  C.  says  Brother  S.  has  taken  a  trip  up 
into  Wisconsin,  about  Potosi ;  that  he  is  inclined 
to  think  he  will  not  stay  in  this  field  long.  Hope 
he  won't-  leave  Iowa.  I'll  find  him  if  I  can. 

July  27.  —  Am  up  now  as  far  as  D.  Here  is 
where  really  the  first  white  man  crossed  thb  river 
to  dwell.  He  had  a  grant  from  government  to  trade 
in  this  mining-region  with  the  Indians.  The  place 
takes  his  name ;  and  the  whole  region  is  honey- 
combed with  the  miner's  diggings.  Great  fortunes 
have  been  made  ;  but  many  a  splendid  prospect 
fails.  So  it  is  in  all  things  else.  Some  say,  that 
if  all  the  labor  expended  in  digging  for  lead 
had  been  expended  upon  the  surface  of  the  ground, 
about  six  inches  deep,  the  people  generally  would 
be  better  off.  However  this  may  be,  a  "right 
smart  town "  is  here  of  a  few  hundred  people. 


A   DIARY.  51 

Brother  H.  preaches  here,  and  has,  I  am  told, 
great  influence.  He  is  away  now  at  the  East  to 
get  funds  towards  repairing  the  church.  It  needs  it ; 
for  it  is  a  stone  building  with  bare  unplastered 
walls  inside.  Yet  it  is  the  only  house  of  worship 
built  expressly  for  this  object  that  we  have  in  the 
Territory.  By  urgent  solicitation  of  the  brethren, 
am  to  spend  the  Sabbath  here. 

July  31.  —  Up,  up,  still  farther  north,  here  at  G., 
county-seat  of  C.  County.  I  have  now  traversed 
northward,  on  my  horseback-trip,  about  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  miles.  Since  leaving  D.,  I  have 
been  so  tossed  about,  that  I  could  not  use  my 
diary  :  so  I  must  write  up  a  little. 

Started  on  Monday  morning  in  search  of  Brother 
S.  Came  up  to  P.  Landing.  There  crossing  the 
river,  soon  got  on  his  track,  and  found  him  at  last, 
after  inquiring  for  him  from  house  to  house,  doing 
good  mission-work  among  the  people.  It  was  truly 
a  surprise-meeting.  Glad  to  learn  that  he  was  true 
to  Iowa,  and  was  to  return  soon  to  his  field. 
Staid  with  him  that  night  in  a  neat  log-cabin  of 
some  young  married  people,  who  said  they  were 
from  Maine.  Might  have  known  they  were  from 
Yankee-land,  if  they  hadn't  told  us,  by  the  morn- 
ing-glories around  the  door  and  the  general  air  of 
things  in  and  around  the  cabin.  There  will  be  a 
good  house  there  some  time,  and  a  Christian  home, 
too,  I  trust. 

Next  day,  about  noon,  crossed  back  again  into 
this  best  part  of  the  world,  on  the  flat-boat  ferry 


52  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

at  C.  Landing,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Turkey  River. 
That  afternoon  had  quite  a  time.  I  was  on  the 
south  side  of  the  river,  and  the  first  ford  was  ten 
miles  up  stream  ;  the  track  leading  for  the  most 
part  through  a  hilly  forest.  From  recent  rains,  the 
river  was  much  swollen,  making,  by  back-water, 
every  stream  putting  into  it  impassable  at  the 
mouth  :  so  my  work  that  afternoon  was  principal- 
ly heading  those  streams.  It  was  in  one  of  these, 
as  I  urged  my  horse  down  a  steep  bank,  into  deeper 
water  than  I  supposed,  that  I  was  thrown  full-length, 
when  saddle-bags,  sermons,  and  papers  went  float- 
ing. Fortunately  I  gathered  them  all  up,  and  came 
on.  Reached  the  ferry  near  night,  where  the  ferry- 
man swam  my  horse  for  me,  and  took  me  over  in  a 
canoe.  I  was  then  twelve  miles  from  this  place, 
and  started  on  with  quickened  speed.  Just  as  it 
was  getting  dark,  as  I  was  querying  whether  or  no 
I  could  keep  the  road,  my  horse  turned  into  a  by- 
path, and  shot  around  a  clump  of  bushes  with  a  will. 
Thinking  he  must  have  some  intent  in  this,  I  gave 
him  the  rein.  In  about  five  minutes,  he  took  me 
up  to  a  fence  and  a  light.  There  I  stopped  for  the 
night. 

It  was  the  cabin  of  an  old  sea-captain,  Capt.  C. 
His  wife,  for  years  a  praying  Christian  woman, 
in  poor  health,  and  somewhat  deaf,  was  once  a 
member  of  Father  K's.  church  in  G.,  111.,  but  now 
is  living  away  alone,  as  a  sheep  in  the  wilderness. 
On  learning  I  was  a  minister,  she  was  greatly  re- 
joiced. We  talked  ;  she  told  me  much  of  her  his- 


A    DIARY.  53 

tory  and  experience  ;  we  read  the  Bible  ;  we  prayed. 
I  stopped  that  night  in  the  house  of  the  Lord.  In 
the  morning,  she  thanked  me  over  and  over  for  the 
good  she  received  ;  but  I  felt,  and  feel  now,  that  she 
did  me  far  more  good  than  I  did  her.  Experience, 
with  the  chastenings  of  the  Lord,  work  that  which 
seminaries  and  colleges  can  never  give.  We  come 
out  here  to  preach  ;  but  there  are  those  who  preach 
to  us  more  effectively  than  we  to  them.  That  day, 
I  came  to  this  place.  Here  are  Brother  H.  and 
wife.  The  settlement  is  on  a  beautiful  prairie-ridge, 
and  there  are  many  fine  families  here.  Brother 
H.  and  wife  are  boarding  at  present,  and  have  be- 
fore them  a  fine  field.  He  enters  it  with  his  usual 
staid,  steady  tread ;  but  she  throws  herself  into  it 
with  the  enthusiasm  of  her  whole  soul.  Long  may 
they  live  to  labor  here  !  The  next  place  north,  they 
say,  is  Sodom,  and  then  the  Indians  :  so  I  guess 
I'll  turn  back. 

From  this  point,  our  tourist,  on  his  return,  re- 
traces pretty  much  the  path  by  which  he  came  ;  so 
that  we  find  in  his  diary  nothing  of  new  interest 
until  he  comes  down  to  D.,  on  the  Mississippi. 
Here  we  quote  as  follows  :  — 

Aug.  10.  —  Came  down  to  this  place  to-day,  from 
D.  W.  Of  all  the  rivers  in  the  Territory,  and  I  be- 
lieve now  I  have  seen  them  all,  I  think  the  W.  is  the 
worst.  Such  ugly  bottom-lands,  and,  indeed,  such 
sloughs  as  I  have  had  all  day  long  !  A  hard  ride  : 
but  I  find  here  a  beautiful  place,  the  most  beautiful 


54  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

natural  location  on  the  Mississippi,  some  say  ;  and  I 
know  of  none  that  excels  it.  There  are  here  about 
five  hundred  people.  I  have  heard  the  place  spoken 
of  as  a  good  location  for  a  college.  I  see  nothing 
to  the  contrary.  There  is  certainly  beauty  of 
scenery.  Probably  it  will  not  be  much  of  a  point 
for  business  ;  and  a  literary  institution  with  such  sur- 
roundings would  attract  a  class  of  people  congenial 
to  itself.  Here  I  am,  the  guest  of  a  new  acquaint- 
ance, Brother  H.,  who  preaches  here.  I  believe, 
though,  he  is  to  leave  before  long  to  go  to  M.,  111., 
a  new  village  just  starting  on  the  other  side  of  the 
river,  three  miles  above  R.  I.  I  am  to  spend  the 
Sabbath  here,  and  shall  be  glad  of  the  rest. 
I  am  getting  about  enough  of  travel.  As  to 
clothes,  between  the  excessive  rains,  hot  sun,  and 
horseback-wear,  they  are  beginning  to  look  pretty 
rusty. 

Monday  Morning,  Aug.  12,  1844.  —  Preached 
yesterday  in  the  forenoon  for  the  Congregational- 
ists  in  a  little  building  put  up  for  a  dwelling-house, 
and  now  used  for  a  school-house,  situated  on  what 
is  known  as  Ditch  Street :  twelve  hearers.  They 
are  building,  however,  a  neat  little  church,  about 
twenty-eight  by  thirty-eight,  on  which  I  see 
that  Brother  H.  works  daily.  Wonder  if  this 
is  the  way,  when  it  comes  to  church-building, 
that  the  minister  has  to  turn  in  as  head-carpenter 
to  "  boss  the  job."  In  the  afternoon  yesterday,  by 
invitation,  preached  for  the  Baptists.  In  the  course 
of  the  sermon  was  a  little  vexed  as  I  noticed  two 


A    DIARY.  55 

ladies  smiling  at  some  holes  in  my  coat-sleeve, 
revealed  by  my  gesturing.  Drew  down  my  arms, 
and  their  faces  too,  by  preaching  straight  at  them. 
Perhaps,  on  this  account,  I  preached  with  more 
point  and  earnestness  than  usual ;  for,  after  meeting, 
an  Old-School  Presbyterian  said  he  would  give 
five  dollars  if  I  would  stop  and  preach  a  year  in 
the  place.  Felt  it  quite  a  compliment,  considering 
the  source. 

Aug.  13.  —  At  B.  The  greatest  effort  at  town- 
building  this.  From  four  to  six  hundred  people 
here  are  pitched  into  gullies,  and  tossed  about  on 
the  hills.  But  here  I  have  a  hearty  welcome  by 
Brother  R.  and  wife.  They  are  getting  ahead  of 
all  the  rest  by  a  little  new-comer  to  their  house- 
hold. She  laughs  at  the  bachelor  brethren,  and 
pretends  to  have  such  a  care  of  them.  Materials 
here  for  a  good  church  ;  and,  if  the  place  ever  is 
any  thing,  no  doubt  there  will  be  a  good  one. 

Aug.  1 6.  — At  B.  Have  been  here  before  quite 
frequently.  Nothing  specially  new  now.  Brother 
H.  is  working  away  quite  hopefully,  though  his 
health  is  not  very  firm.  Nothing  new,  I  say  ?  —  Yes, 
there  is  one  thing  new,  in  the  shape  of  an  utter- 
ance of  one  Rev.  Mr.  W.,  a  Cumberland  Presbyte- 
rian minister,  in  a  piece  published  in  the  paper,  to 
which  Brother  H.  called  my  attention.  It  is  so 
modest,  I  must  put  it  down  as  so  much  history  :  — 

"  Observation  has  taught  me  that  many  honest 
persons  have  heard  Iowa  misrepresented.  So  far 
from  being  a  land  of  heathens,  it  is  becoming  dense- 


56  THE   IOWA    BAND. 

ly  populated  by  people  of  intelligence,  from  not 
only  different  parts  of  the  United  States,  but  of  the 
Eastern  and  Western  Continents.  The  people  are 
able  to  support  their  ministers  ;  and  it  is  an  insult 
offered  to  their  intelligence  to  have  men  stationed 
in  their  largest  towns  and  villages,  who  receive 
from  one  to  four  hundred  dollars  per  annum  to  in- 
struct the  brethren.  Iowa  is  an  unhealthy  climate 
for  theological  dwarfs.  Ministers  are  needed  who 
have  clear  heads,  warm  hearts  ;  whose  sentences 
breathe,  and  whose  words  burn." 

O  Brother  W. !  you,  then,  must  be  one  of  the  kind 
needed ;  for  your  sentences  breathe,  and  your 
words  burn.  We  have  heard  of  similar  utterances 
got  off  by  unbelievers,  especially  by  one  of  the 
leading  judges  of  the  Territory  when  we  came  into 
it ;  but  little  did  we  expect  that  gospel  ministers 
would  join  in  the  cry.  The  judge,  however,  apolo- 
gized, as  he  found  one  of  our  number  coming  to  be 
his  next-door  neighbor.  Wonder  if  you  ever  will ! 

Aug.i?.  —  At  D.  This  is  a  kind  of  a  home  for  us 
all ;  and  I  thought  I  would  come  over  here  to  rest 
a  little  before  going  back  to  my  field.  I  have  cer- 
tainly taken  quite  a  tour,  and  am  glad  of  it.  I  have 
seen  the  brethren,  seen  their  homes,  know  the 
country,  and  trust  I  shall  work  the  more  heartily. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

THEN    AND    NOW. 

IT  is  by  no  means  proposed,  in  what  follows,  to 
give  a  connected  history  either  of  the  Iowa 
Band  or  Iowa  Missions  for  the  last  twenty-five 
years.  We  seek  only  to  review  a  scene  here  and 
there,  and  put  on  record  a  few  facts,  which,  while 
of  interest  to  parties  concerned,  may  stand  to  the 
credit  of  the  great  home-missionary  work.  If 
but  a  glimpse  of  home-missionary  life  can  be  pre- 
sented, especially  of  its  inner  view,  with  its  joys 
yet  not  without  its  sorrows,  our  young  men  pre- 
paring for  or  entering  the  ministry,  we  are  sure, 
will  be  attracted  rather  than  repelled  by  it.  If  we 
can  hold  up  a  few  clusters  gathered  as  the  fruits 
of  home-missions  in  Iowa,  it  may  encourage  and 
stimulate  all  workers  in  this  noble  cause  to  push 
it  onward  with  increasing  vigor  wherever  there 
remaineth  land  yet  to  be  possessed. 

As  preparatory  to  what  is  now  proposed,  nothing 
perhaps,  will  serve  better  than  to  contrast  the 
Iowa  of  twenty-five  years  ago  with  the  Iowa  of 
to-day.  By  this  view  of  the  "  then  and  now," 
unfolding,  as  it  must,  the  nature  of  the  field 
occupied  and  the  changes  wrought,  we  can  better 


58  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

appreciate  the  causes  at  work.  But  going  back 
twenty-five  years  brings  us  so  near  the  beginning 
of  all  Iowa  history,  that  a  word  or  two  of  the  prior 
period  may  not  be  amiss. 

From  1843,  we  go  back  but  ten  years  to  find 
the  first  settlement  of  the  State.  This  was  June 
i,  1833.  Before  that  date,  no  white  man  had 
resided  within  its  limits,  except  the  Indian  traders 
and  their  dependants,  and  a  few  who  crossed  the 
Mississippi  in  defiance  of  all  treaties. 

Of  those  who  have  labored  here  in  the  gospel, 
probably  the  first  Congregational  minister  whose 
privilege  it  was  to  look  over  into  this  promised 
land  was  the  Rev.  J.  A.  Reed.  He  saw  it  as  early 
as  May,  1833.  His  point  of  observation  was  a 
town-site  in  Illinois,  called  Commerce,  consisting 
then  of  one  log-cabin  and  a  cornfield,  since  known 
as  Nauvoo.  His  eye  could  just  distinguish  bluffs 
and  prairie,  with  timber-skirted  streams.  Gazing 
on  the  prospect,  his  reflection  was,  that  the  land 
before  him,  all  the  way  to  the  Pacific,  was  the 
abode  only  of  savages.  All  seemed  buried,  as  for 
ages,  in  the  silence  and  sleep  of  savage-life. 

During  the  first  ten  years  of  Iowa  history,  between 
1833  and  1843,  the  only  portion  of  the  State  open 
for  settlement  was  a  strip  of  country  about  forty 
miles  wide,  and  two  hundred  miles  long,  on  the 
western  bank  of  the  Mississippi.  So  far  out  was 
this  on  the  frontier,  on  the  very  borders -of  the 
Indian  country,  and  so  much  good  land  was  there 
unoccupied  and  easier  of  access  between  it  and  the 


THEN    AND    NOW.  59 

older  settlements  of  what  was  then  the  West,  that 
its  population  at  first  increased  but  slowly.  In 
1838,  five  years  after  its  settlement  began,  the  pop- 
ulation of  the  Territory  numbered  but  22,859. 

Prior  to  July  4,  1839,  Iowa  was  included  in  the 
territorial  government,  first  of  Michigan,  and  then 
of  Wisconsin.  At  this  date,  its  own  government 
was  established,  embracing  in  its  limits  the  most 
of  what  is  now  Minnesota  and  Dakota.  Its  pres- 
ent boundaries  were  established  when  it  was  ad- 
mitted into  the  Union  as  a  State,  in  1846.  In 
1840,  its  population  had  reached  42,500.  In  these 
first  years,  the  country  was  but  little  developed. 
Pioneer  hardships  and  privations  were  the  com- 
mon experience  of  the  people.  These  were  times 
in  which  the  brethren  tell  of  letters  lying  in  the 
post-office  for  want  of  money  possessed,  or  to  be 
borrowed,  with  which  to  pay  postage. 

The  religious  condition  of  the  people  near  the 
close  of  this  first  ten  years,  as  near  as  August, 
1 842,  is  indicated  by  the  statements  of  a  writer  in 
"  The  Home  Missionary  "  of  that  period.  He  puts 
down  the  number  of  ministers  in  the  Territory,  of 
all  denominations,  as  42,  and  the  number  of  pro- 
fessing Christians  as  2,133.  "Suppose,"  he  says, 
"that  ten  times  this  number,  or  21,330,  come 
under  the  stated  or  transient  influence  of  the 
preached  gospel,  you  have  yet  the  astounding  fact, 
that  there  are  38,070  souls  in  the  Territory  destitute 
of  the  means  of  grace,  a  large  portion  of  whom  are 
under  the  withering  blight  of  all  sorts  of  perni- 
cious error." 


6O  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

Among  the  errors  alluded  to  was  Mormonism. 
Its  headquarters  were  at  Nauvoo,  111.  The  town- 
site  with  its  one  log-cabin  of  ten  years  ago  had  now 
become  a  city  of  Latter-day  Saints,  claiming  from 
sixteen  to  eighteen  thousand  people.  All  the 
males  were  under  military  drill,  the  men  in  one 
division,  and  the  boys  in  another,  to  the  number,  it 
it  was  said,  of  three  thousand.  There  was  not  a 
school  in  the  place.  About  this  time  Mormonism 
was  sanguine.  Its  apostles  were  everywhere, 
traversing  the  new  settlements  with  a  zeal  and 
success  at  once  astonishing  and  alarming. 

Infidelity,  too,  was  presenting  a  bold  front 
under  the  leadership  of  Abner  Kneeland,  first 
known  in  Vermont  as  a  Universalist  minister, 
afterwards  in  Boston  as  an  atheist.  He  had  set- 
tled with  a  band  of  his  followers,  male  and  female, 
upon  the  banks  of  the  Des  Moines,  to  mould,  if 
possible,  the  faith  of  the  new  settlers  by  "  substitut- 
ing," as  one  has  said,  "  Paine's  '  Age  of  Reason,'  for 
the  family  Bible,  the  dance  for  the  prayer-meet- 
ing, and  the  holiday  for  the  Sabbath*."  Of  the 
ministers  and  Christians  spoken  of  as  in  the  Terri- 
tory near  the  close  of  the  first  ten  years,  a  very 
few  only  were  of  the  Congregational  order. 

The  first  Congregational  ministers  that  explored 
this  field  were  the  Rev.  Asa  Turner  and  the  Rev. 
William  Kirby.  This  they  did  in  May,  1836.  They 
found,  as  the  principal  settlements,  Fort  Madison, 
Burlington,  Farmington,  Yellow  Springs,  Daven- 
port, and  Pleasant  Valley.  Had  they  continued 


THEN    AND    NOW.  6 1 

their  tour  northward  far  enough,  they  would  have 
found  Dubuque,  with  some  other  little  settlements 
scattered  here  and  there. 

The  first  resident  Congregational  minister  in 
the  State  was  the  Rev.  W.  A.  Apthorp,  who  came 
in  the  fall  of  1836.  He  preached  for  a  year  or 
two,  mostly  at  Fort  Madison  and  Denmark.  At 
Denmark,  the  first  Congregational  church  in  Iowa 
was  formed,  May  5,  1838.  The  ministers  present 
were  Messrs.  Turner,  Reed,  and  Apthorp.  Denmark 
was  then  about  two  years  old,  with  a  few  log-cabins 
and  a  frame-building,  twenty  by  twenty-four,  which 
served  as  a  schoolhouse  and  meeting-house,  partly 
finished.  The  church  was  organized  with  thirty- 
two  members.  Every  New-England  State  but 
one  was  represented  in  it.  Immediately  on  the 
organization  of  the  church,  Mr.  Turner  was  in- 
vited to  take  charge  of  it ;  and  the  invitation  was, 
after  a  few  weeks,  accepted.  Mr.  Apthorp  was 
soon  called  to  Illinois,  and  Mr.  Turner  was  left 
the  only  Congregational  minister  in  the  State.  So 
intimately  connected  with  the  history  of  our 
churches  in  after-years  did  the.  church  at  Denmark 
and  its  pastor  become,  that  Denmark  is  regarded 
as  the  cradle  of  Congregationalism  in  Iowa ;  and  to 
the  revered  pastor  who  so  long  labored  there,  the 
Iowa  ministry  have  given,  by  common  consent, 
the  appellation  of  "  Father  Turner." 

He  did  not  long  stand  alone.  Others  came  to 
his  help,  but  not  enough  to  supply  the  wants  of 
even  the  slowly  developing  country  around  them. 


62  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

In  a  few  years,  the  population  began  to  increase 
more  rapidly.  The  openings  for  labor  became 
more  numerous,  but  the  men  to  occupy  the  new 
fields  came  not.  These  were  weary  years,  in 
which  the  few  brethren  here  explored  the  field, 
reported  its  wants,  and  then  labored  on  without 
re-enforcement.  This  they  did  till  hope  deferred 
not  only  made  the  heart  sick,  but  made  them 
almost  despair.  But  at  last,  as  we  have  seen,  help 
came. 

Twenty-five  years  ago,  what  is  now  the  State  of 
Iowa  was  a  Territory,  whose  scattered  settlements 
were  mostly  confined  to  the  narrow  strip  of 
country  before  mentioned.  The  northern  and 
western  portions  of  it  were  still  in  the  possession 
of  the  Indians.  It  was  only  a  little  farther  west, 
about  to  the  centre  of  the  State,  that  the  Indian 
title  was  extinguished  in  October,  1843.  Now  the 
State  stretches  from. the  Mississippi  to  the  Mis- 
souri, taking  in  a  belt  of  land  measuring  from  north 
to  south  nearly  three  hundred  miles.  Traversing  the 
eastern  portion  of  it  are  five  noble  rivers,  nearly 
equidistant  from  and  parallel  to  each  other,  run- 
ning in  a  south-easterly  direction  to  the  Mississippi ; 
while  on  the  western  slope  of  the  State  are  other 
rivers,  with  their  tributaries,  tending  to  the  Mis- 
souri. 

With  this  area  of  fifty-five  thousand  square  miles, 
situated  in  the  very  heart  of  our  country,  embracing 
a  variety  of  climate,  bounded  and  intersected  by  the 
noblest  rivers  of  the  continent,  Iowa  is  equal  to 


THEN    AND    NOW.  63 

any  of  her  sister  States  in  the  richness  of  her  soil, 
and  more  favored  than  some  of  them  in  the  extent 
of  her  forests.  Her  water-courses  abound  with 
facilities  for  the  manufacturer.  Her  mines  of  lead 
and  coal,  and  her  quarries  of  marble,  are  exhaustless 
sources  of  wealth.  It  is  indeed  a  goodly  land : 
so  the  thousands  who  have  found  a  home  on  its 
soil  have  esteemed  it. 

The  growth  of  its  population,  though  slow  at 
first,  has  in  later  years  been  truly  wonderful.  In 
1843,  there  were  but  about  seventy  thousand  people 
in  the  State ;  now  there  are  over  a  million.  In  cities 
where  then  there  were  but  a  few  hundreds,  now 
there  are  thousands,  and  in  some  cases  tens  of 
thousands.  Twenty-five  years  ago,  a  father  in  the 
ministry  was  calling  with  one  of  the  Band  on  a 
family  in  the  field  of  his  labor.  Wishing  to 
impress  both  the  family  and  the  youthful  minister 
with  the  grandeur  of  the  Christian  work  in  a  new 
country,  he  remarked  on  this  wise  :  "  I  have  no 
doubt  that  the  day  will  come,  some  time,  that, 
within  a  region  of  ten  miles  around  the  place 
where  we  now  stand,  there  will  be  as  many  as  ten 
thousand  people."  The  prophecy  at  the  time 
seemed  almost  startling.  But  that  family  is  still 
living  where  they  then  were ;  and,  within  the  region 
alluded  to,  the  people  now  are  numbered  by  more 
than  three  times  ten  thousand,  while  the  two  minis- 
ters are  still  living,  the  older  and  the  younger 
beholding  in  wonder  the  advancing  growth. 


64  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

Meantime,  as  might  be  expected,  the  develop- 
ment of  the  State  as  a  whole  has  been  wonderful. 
The  Iowa  of  to-day  rivals  many  an  older  State  in 
agricultural  and  mechanical  productions  ;  while  her 
coal-beds  and  her  quarries  are  proving  sources  of 
unexpected  wealth,  and  her  mines  of  lead  show  no 
signs  of  exhaustion.  Her  advance  in  all  the  arts 
and  achievements  of  civilized  life  has  been  rapid. 
There  is  no  better  index,  perhaps,  of  the  develop- 
ment of  a  country  than  its  facilities  of  travel,  and, 
especially  in  these  latter  days,  the  number  and 
location  of  its  railroads.  A  glance  shows  how 
marked  has  been  the  progress  in  this  respect. 

Twenty-five  years  ago,  the  nearest  approach  by 
rail  from  the  East  was  the  city  of  Buffalo.  Travel- 
lers that  would  see  the  then  Far  West,  just  opening 
on  this  the  farther  side  of  the  Mississippi,  were 
compelled,  for  the  most  part,  to  cross  over  in  skiffs, 
flat-boats,  or  horse-boats.  At  one  point  only  was 
there  a  steam-ferry.  The  mode  of  travel  then  was 
mostly  on  foot  or  horseback,  guided  often  by  Indian 
trails  or  blazed  trees.  Bridgeless  streams  and 
sometimes  bottomless  sloughs  were  to  be  crossed. 

Many  are  the  incidents  and  adventures  which 
the  members  of  the  Band  and  the  older  ministers 
have  to  recount  to  their  children  and  to  one  another 
of  the  days  in  one  .sense  so  recent,  in  another  so 
long  ago,  as  they  speak  of  their  early  explorations 
in  looking  over  their  fields  and  hunting  up  the 
people.  But  these  things  have  passed.  Railroads 


THEN    AND    NOW.  65 

have  come.  No  less  than  five  railroad-bridges 
across  the  Mississippi  are  or  are  being  constructed, 
over  which  the  iron  horse  comes  to  find  here  a  fresh 
pasture-ground  for  his  wide  roaming.  From  these 
five  points  start  five  main  roads,  crossing  the  State 
from  east  to  west.  Like  her  five  principal  rivers, 
they  are  about  equi-distant  from,  and  in  the  main 
parallel  to,  each  other.  Two  of  them  already 
form  the  Iowa  links  in  the  great  Pacific  Route,  and 
others  are  pressing  on.  Meantime,  from  north  to 
south,  roads  are  projected,  and  parts  of  them  com- 
pleted ;  giving  promise,  at  no  distant  day,  of  a  rail- 
road system  at  once  complete  and  adequate.  In 
the  aggregate,  about  fourteen  hundred  miles  of 
railroad  are  already  in  operation,  —  an  extent  nearly 
if  not  quite  equal  to  all  the  railroads  in  the  whole 
country  twenty-five  years  ago.  The  whistle  of  the 
engine  is  fast  becoming  a  familiar  sound  to  the 
children  of  Iowa. 

The  rivers,  of  course,  have  been  bridged,  and  car- 
riage-roads have  been  made,  as  the  necessities  of 
the  people  have  required.  Twenty-five  years  ago, 
the  only  public  buildings  of  Iowa  were  a  rickety 
penitentiary  and  a  very  ordinary  State  House  : 
now,  all  over  the  State  are  scattered  her  public 
institutions  of  all  sorts, —  homes  for  the  orphan, 
asylums  for  the  blind,  the  insane,  and  the  deaf  and 
dumb.  Her  present  Capitol  stands  in  a  city  claim- 
ing a  population  of  fifteen  thousand,  where,  at  the 
coming  of  the  Band,  there  was  but  a  fort,  seldom 

6* 


66  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

reached,  so  far  was  it  in  the  heart  of  the    Indian 
country. 

In  addition  to  her  State  University,  whose 
annual  income  exceeds  twenty-five  thousand  dol- 
lars, her  Agricultural  College  generously  endowed, 
and  a  system  of  common  schools  magnificently 
provided  for,  there  are,  among  her  citizens,  schools 
and  colleges  established  by  Christian  enterprise, 
already  standing  high  among  the  best  institutions 
of  the  land. 

Thus,  as  by  magic,  in  a  few  years  has  the  wilder- 
ness been  peopled.  That  profound  sleep  in  which, 
when  the  first  Congregational  minister  gazed  upon 
it,  the  whole  region  seemed  wrapped,  has  been 
broken.  Towns,  villages,  cities,  have  sprung  up, 
where,  but  a  little  while  ago,  no  trace  of  civilization 
was  visible.  With  all  this  growth,  giving  life  and 
vitality  td  it,  have  sprung  up  churches  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  We  will  not  speak  of  these  now  ;  but, 
when  in  the  proper  place  we  do,  we  shall  find  that 
here  the  tens  have  given  place  to  hundreds,  and 
hundreds  to  thousands. 

Twenty-five  years  ago,  Iowa  was  almost  un- 
known, and  its  character  a  blank  :  now  its  fame  is 
at  once  world-wide  and  enviable.  Then  it  was 
only  a  frontier  Territory,  containing,  in  the  eye  of 
the  nation,  but  a  few  scattered  homes  of  wild 
adventurers  :  now  it  is  a  State  ;  and  a  State,  too,  of 
no  mean  rank  in  the  centre  of  States.  Welcoming, 
from  the  first,  to  her  soil  the  principles  of  educa- 


THEN    AND    NOW.  / 

tion,  liberty,  and  religion  that  have  travelled  west- 
ward from  the  land  of  the  Pilgrims  ;  sending  them, 
in  due  time,  to  the  opening  plains  of  Kansas  and 
Nebraska ;  saying  to  the  dark  spirit  of  the  South, 
that  was-  ever  struggling  to  press  its  way  north- 
ward, "  Thus  far  and  no  farther;  "  joining  hands,  in 
the  mean  time,  with  her  sister  States  of  the  North 
and  the  North-west  in  a  friendly  rivalry  to  develop 
and  protect  every  noble  interest  and  true,  —  she 
stands  forth  with  the  proud  inscription  already  on 
her  brow,  "  The  Massachusetts  of  the  West,"  —  an 
inscription  placed  there,  not  as  in  self-glorying,  by 
her  Own  sons,  but  by  friends  abroad,  as  they  have 
seen  the  freedom  of  her  people,  her  schools,  and 
her  churches,  watched  the  integrity  and  wisdom  of 
her  legislators,  felt  her  power  in  the  councils  of 
the  nation,  and  especially  as  they  have  marked  her 
noble  record  in  the  hour  of  the  nation's  peril. 

She  was  ever*  prompt  with  her  full  quota  of  men 
and  means,  and  ever  mindful  of  her  soldiers  in  the 
field  and  their  families  at  home.  Of  all  her  sister 
States,  none  were  more  lavish  in  these  respects  than 
she  ;  and  yet  she  was  the  only  one  of  them  all  to 
come  out  at  the  close  of  the  war  with  her  liabilities 
cancelled,  and  free  of  debt.  Nor  has  she  since  been 
untrue  to  the  character  then  earned :  she  has  made 
the  path  of  freedom  broad  enough  to  include  all 
her  citizens  ;  and,  in  every  case  in  which  these 
United  States  have  been  called  to  pronounce  upon 
any  of  the  issues  of  the  times,  she  has  stood 


68  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

shoulder  to  shoulder  on  the  side  of  progress  with 
the  noblest  of  them  all.  Such  is  the  Iowa  of  to- 
day. Looking  at  things  as  they  now  are,  we  can 
hardly  believe  that  they  are  the  outgrowth  of  the 
things  few  and  feeble  of  twenty-five  years  ago.  But 
so  it  is.  There  have  been  causes  for  this.  Where 
and  what  are  they  ? 


CHAPTER   X. 

THE    WORKERS. 

THE  growth  of  a  State,  free  and  mighty,  as  are 
those  of  the  North-west  is  a  grand  event.  It 
stands  forth  as  the  result,  not  of  one  cause,  but  of 
a  thousand.  Prominent  among  them,  to  say  the 
least,  is  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  message  of 
God  to  man  by  his  Son.  It  is  the  preaching  of 
this  gospel,  with  the  influences  and  institutions  it 
includes,  that,  entering  into  the  individual,  domes- 
tic, social,  and  civil  life,  gives  character  and  pros- 
perity to  the  State.  To  prove  a  proposition  like 
this  is  no  part  of  the  present  object ;  nor,  with  the 
history  of  our  country  before  us,  is  it  needful.  It 
is  to  the  preachers,  teachers,  and  upholders  of  the 
gospel  in  Iowa,  we  are  bold  to  affirm,  that  she  is  in 
no  small  degree  indebted  for  what  she  is. 

Somewhat  prominent  among  these  are  the  Con- 
gregational ministers  and  churches  of  the  State. 
With  here  and  there  an  exception,  these  churches 
have  all  felt  the  fostering  care  of  the  American 
Home  Missionary  Society,  —  a  society  which  is 
more  than  its  president,  its  executive  committee,  and 
its  secretaries.  Be  it  ours,  then,  in  this  chapter,  to  set 
forth  the  workers  here  ;  not  the  home  missionaries 


7O  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

only,  but  their  helpers  also,  —  all  who  have  given  or 
prayed  in  aid  of  this  work,  or  sympathized  with 
them  in  it.  If  home  missions  can  show  a  record 
of  honor  in  Iowa,  let  the  honor  be  shared  by  all 
who  should  participate  in  it,  and  let  the  joys  of  it 
be  wide-spread  and  mutual. 

The  grand  central  figure,  however,  around  which 
the  picture  must  be  drawn  is  the  home  missionary 
himself.  Look  at  him  as  he  is,  or  rather  as  he  was, 
twenty-five  years  ago.  We  have  a  young  man  with- 
out family,  and,  with  possibly  here  and  there  an 
exception,  without  friends,  in  the  new  territory  to 
which  he  has  come.  His  property  inventories  a  few 
books,  the  clothes  he  wears,  his  trusty  horse,  and  a 
debt  at  the  seminary.  On  a  beautiful  morning,  as 
beautiful  as  the  light,  which  is  glorious,  and  the  air, 
which  is  bracing,  can  make  it,  he  is  riding  out  from 
his  home,  over  the  prairies,  into  the  surrounding 
settlements.  He  is  in  the  ardor  of  youth  ;  yet  all 
things  just  now  seem  neither  very  bright,  beauti- 
ful, nor  hopeful.  The  prairies,  at  first  so  fascinat- 
ing in  their  novelty,  by  familiarity  have  grown 
tame  and  unattractive.  They  are  now  actually 
dreary,  with  their  verdure  stiffened  by  the  frosts  of 
autumn,  or  burned  to  blackness  by  autumnal  fires. 

The  poetry  of  Western  life  and  home  mission- 
ary labor  is  fast  changing  to  fact.  The  fires  of  a 
new  experience  are  passing  over  him.  What  won- 
der now  if  his  ride  be  somewhat  lonely,  and  his 
thoughts  flow  in  a  serious,  almost  saddened  mood, 
as  he  queries  with  himself,  — 


THE    WORKERS.  /I 

"  What  do  I  here  ?  I  came  here  to  preach  ;  but 
there  are  no  meeting-houses  and  no  churches.  But 
few  people  care  about  my  coming,  going,  or  staying. 
Among  them  all,  who  is  there  to  lean  upon  ?  Noth- 
ing is  organized.  The  materials  are  heterogeneous 
and  discordant.  There  are  no  counsellors  near,  no 
precedents,  no  established  customs.  With  some 
denominations  there  are  set  rules  and  directions  ; 
the  way  is  marked  out :  this  is  of  some  advantage, 
at  least.  Some  denominations,  too,  are  popular : 
mine  is  not ;  is,  indeed,  but  little  known,  and  many 
are  prejudiced  against  it.  I  am  to  work  here  alone. 
In  case  of  sickness,  or  general  failure  of  health, 
what  then  ?  Foreign  missionaries  are  provided  for 
in  this  respect,  but  home  missionaries  are  not. 
Who  is  so  little  supported  from  without  as  a  home 
missionary  ?  Who  is  put  so  much  upon  his  self- 
reliance  ?  And  on  whom  does  the  whole  work  in 
which  he  is  engaged  so  hang  ?  And  now,  an  inexpe- 
rienced youth,  what  do  I  here  ?  What  is  my  life- 
work  to  be  ? " 

Oh,  from  the  depths  of  how  many  hearts  have 
these  questions  come  up  here  in  Iowa,  and  in  all 
the  newer  missionary-fields  of  the  West!  How 
often,  having  left  home  and  friends,  church- 
steeples,  and  the  sound  of  church-going  bells,  be- 
hind him,  and  gone  towards  the  setting  sun  till  he 
found  himself  single-handed  and  alone  on  the  very 
frontiers  of  civilization,  has  the  home  missionary 
in  perplexity  asked,  "  What  do  I  here  ? "  And 
how  often  has  the  question  found  an  answer  in 


72  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

some  moment  of  loneliness  and  sadness,  when,  in 
the  absence  of  all  human  stays  and  sympathies, 
the  soul  has  been  thrown  upon  God,  and,  for  the 
time,  the  whole  being,  the  whole  world  even,  has 
become  as  the  holy  of  holies,  filled  with  the  di- 
vine presence ! 

Then  it  is  seen  that  there  is  work  enough  any- 
where ;  and  there  is  faith  and  courage  to  do  it.  It 
is  thus  that  to  the  lonely  missionary-rider  there 
springs  up  a  light,  and  visions  brighter  than  the 
brightness  of  the  morning.  God  never  seemed  in 
his  fulness  to  fill  all  things  more  than  now  in  the 
surrounding  solitudes.  In  a  few  years  he  sees  that 
the  virgin  soil  around  him,  with  as  yet  no  trace 
upon  it  save  here  and  there  a  bridle-path,  is  to  take 
on  the  fruits  of  husbandry  and  toil  ;  homes  are 
soon  to  cover  it ;  the  silent  forest  is  to  be  peopled, 
and  the  rivers'  banks  are  to  be  thronged  with  arti- 
sans. For  the  people's  need,  for  the  glory  of  God, 
and  that  the  land  may  be  Christ's,  he  sees  that 
spiritual  seed  must  here  be  sown,  and  spiritual 
harvests  reaped.  "  Here,"  he  exclaims,  "  is  my 
work  !  With  God  for  my  counsellor,  and  taking 
the  customs,  precedents,  and  rules  of  his  Word  for 
my  guide,  here  will  I  live  and  labor,  and  here  will 
I  die." 

Yes,  noble  Iowa,  many  are  the  germs  of  life- 
labor  that  thus  have  been  set  wrthin  thee  !  Out  of 
them,  many  are  the  years  of  patient  toil  and  work 
that  have  been  given  thee  by  those  who  brought 
salvation  on  their  tongues,  whose  feet  trod  the  rude 


THE    WORKERS.  73 

dwellings  of  thy  pioneers,  who,  in  the  ruder  school- 
houses,  first  gathered  thy  children  together  to  teach 
them  the  ways  of  the  Lord,  and  whose  very  lives 
have  flowed  out  into  the  Industry,  the  thrift,  the 
virtue,  and  the  integrity,  of  thy  people.  When  as  a 
young  man  thou  rejoicest  in  thy  strength,  forget 
not  by  what  powers  thy  sinews  have  been  knit  ; 
from  whom,  in  a  measure  at  least,  the  currents  of 
thy  life  have  been  fed. 

Iowa  owes  '  a  debt  even  to  the  humble  home- 
missionary  :  but  not  to  him  alone  ;  for  with  him, 
in  him,  and  through  him,  she  has  felt  the  power 
of  thousands  besides.  That  missionary  entered 
upon  his  work  with  a  commission,  —  a  business-like 
document,  sending  him  out,  perhaps,  to  find  a  field, 
or  a  place  in  which  to  make  one  ;  drawing  out,  some- 
what in  detail,  the  nature  of  the  duties  enjoined, 
with  the  requisition  of  quarterly  reports  to  be 
made,  and  the  promise  of  pecuniary  aid  in  a  certain 
sum  stipulated :  all  duly  signed  by  accredited 
agents, —  the  Secretaries  of  the  Home  Missionary 
Society.  Accordingly,  laboring  through  the  months 
of  the  first  quarter,  hunting  up  the  lost  sheep  of 
the  house  of  Israel,  sowing  seed  as  he  may  beside 
all  waters,  with  somewhat  of  trembling  at  the  little 
accomplished,  he  makes  his  first  report,  and  labors 
on. 

In  due  time,  by  the  tri-weekly  or  bi-weekly  mail, 
there  comes  to  him  a  letter  with  the  Society's 
imprint,  —  the  first  from  New  York.  The  twenty- 
five  cents  of  postage  are  paid,  and  the  seal  broken. 


74  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

There  before  him  is  his  first  missionary  draft, 
—  good,  in  the  old  times,  as  so  much  gold.  It  seems 
to  him  as  almost  sacred  ;  for  whence  comes  it  ?  Of 
the  West  he  has  heard  from  his  youth.  He 
knows  how  the  old  folks  at  home,  the  fathers  and 
the  mothers,  the  brothers  and  the  sisters  too,  are 
praying  and  giving  for  the  West ;  and  now  he  is 
here,  an  almoner  of  their  bounties.  Through  him 
is  the  answer  of  their  prayers  to  find  a  channel :  a 
new  tie  is  felt  between  him  and  them. 

These  are  allies  in  the  work,  recognized  now  as 
never  before.  He  must  be  faithful  at  his  post,  to 
the  duties  of  which  he  commits  himself  with  a  new 
consecration.  This  is  not  all.  That  first  letter  is 
no  mere  off-hand  business-note,  with  the  simple 
authority  to  draw  so  much  money.  There  is 
appended  a  message  of  cheer,  of  warm  Christian 
greeting  and  encouragement.  That  message  by  the 
secretary's  own  pen  is  as  the  hand  grasp  of  a  friend. 
By  it,  henceforth,  the  youthful  laborer  feels  that 
there  are  indeed  loving  human  sympathies  with 
him,  as  he  stands  in  this  holy  brotherhood  of  the 
mission-work.  He  as  a  home-missionary,  the  sec- 
retaries, the  patrons  of  the  Society,  those  who  give 
and  pray,  —  all  are  as  one,  and  in  one  work. 

Yes,  ye  donors, — ye  men  of  wealth  who  have 
given  your  thousands,  ye  widows  in  Israel  who 
have  brought  your  two  mites,  all  ye  who  have  given 
or  prayed,  —  in  all  the  fruits  of  home-missions  at 
the  West,  you  are  sharers. 

And  you  who  with  noble  hearts  have  stood  be- 


THE    WORKERS.  75 

tween  the  givers  and  the  workers,  —  allow  us  who 
once  were  young,  and  now  look  back  upon  our 
quarter-century  labors,  to  give  expression  to  the 
debt  of  gratitude  we  owe  to  you,  and  especially  to 
the  senior  among  you,  then  in  the  prime  of  his 
life,  and  still  faithful  at  his  post.  Could  his  brief 
messages  of  cheer  in  missionary  correspondence, 
scattered  all  over  Iowa  in  her  earlier  days,  be 
gathered  together,  what  a  volume  they  would 
make  !  Could  it  but  be  seen  what  courage  and 
energy  they  inspired,  how  rich  a  reward  would 
there  be  in  it  for  him  ! 

We  do  not  wonder  that  our  wives  have  said,  in 
passing  through  the  commercial  metropolis,  that 
"  they  would  rather  see  Dr.  Badger's  face  than  any 
thing  else  in  New  York."  Nor  will  we  forget  his 
noble  colleague  of  the  earlier  days,  now  gone  to 
his  reward.  Go  on  then,  brethren  at  the  Home 
Missionary  Rooms,  in  these  words  of  your  cheer. 
You  little  know  what  power  there  is  in  them  some- 
times in  the  hearts  and  homes  of  those  at  the  out- 
posts of  home-missionary  toil. 

Pass  on  a  few  years  in  the  young  missionary's 
career,  and  look  again.  Like  others,  he  finds  it  not 
good  to  be  alone.  He  takes  a  wife,  begins  a  home. 
Children  are  in  the  household.  The  actual  neces- 
saries of  life  draw  hard  upon  a  scanty  income. 
Sometimes  the  burdens  of  sickness  or  misfortune 
are  added.  In  spite  of  clerical  financiering,  —  and 
there  is  no  better  in  the  world,  —  things  are  going 
hard. 


76  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

But  something  is  rolled  up  to  the  door.  It  is  a 
barrel  or  box ;  nothing  more,  nothing  less.  Few 
things  just  now  could  be  more  ;  for  it  is  a  "  mission- 
ary box."  Roll  it  in,  and  take  off  the  cover.  Out 
comes  a  dress  or  a  cloak ;  here  a  vest,  and  there  a 
coat ;  bundles  of  nice  warm  flannel ;  little  dresses, 
little  stockings  and  tiny  shoes,  and  toys  even,  for 
the  youngest  of  the  household ;  an  old  hat  and  old 
bonnets  sometimes,  —  strange  that  such  things 
should  be  sent ! 

A  real  relief  is  that  box  ;  for  almost  eyery  thing 
is  in  it, —  many  comforts,  and  often  some  luxuries 
and  adornments,  that  make  the  prairie-home 
brighter  and  more  cheerful  for  months.  Winter 
may  come  now.  The  lean,  lank  wallet  may  swell 
out  a  little ;  for  less  frequent  now  will  be  the  drafts 
upon  it.  Real  gala-scenes  sometimes  attend  the 
opening-of  these  boxes,  when  the  quiet  study  takes 
on  the  air  of  a  dry-goods  room  or  a  clothing-store, 
when  each  is  seeking  to  make  out  a  suit  for  him- 
self, and  try  it  on. 

Willie,  with  the  cap  adjusted  and  jacket  on,  is 
tugging  at  the  shoes,  and  Kate  at  the  stockings, 
while  the  mother  is  busy  with  the  shawl,  gloves,  &c. 

Of  course,  every  thing  in  the  box  does  not  fit  at 
first,  though  afterwards  generally  made  to  ;  and 
somewhat  grotesque  are  the  figures  arrayed  in  each 
other's  presence,  to  the  merriment  of  all. 

But  hush  !  The  articles  are  all  taken  off,  folded 
up,  and  laid  aside ;  the  little  ones  are  made  to 
understand  that  they  are  gifts  from  kind  friends  far 


THE    WORKERS.  77 

away  :  and  then  there  is  a  kneeling  down  around 
that  box,  God  is  thanked,  and  blessings  invoked  on 
the  donors.  Nor  is  a  new  consecration  to  the 
mission-work  forgotten. 

Yes,  ye  far-off  mothers,  sisters,  ye,  too,  are 
workers  here.  By  the  busy  stitches  that  bound 
these  garments  together,  not  only  were  your  hearts 
bound  more  closely  to  the  missionary  cause,  but  the 
hearts  of  the  missionaries  were  bound  to  it  more 
closely  as  well.  By  these,  in  part,  have  the  East  and 
the  West  been  bound  together  in  the  fellowship  of 
workers  in  a  common  Christian  cause.  They 
have  also  furnished  a  few  threads,  at  least,  in  that 
web  of  national  sympathy  by  which  the  East  and 
the  West  and  the  North  and  the  South  are  indis- 
solubly  one. 

At  every  step  of  our  young  home  missionary  in 
his  progressive  work,  he  finds  co-workers  in  it. 
He  goes  into  his  little  Sabbath  schools,  presenting 
books  and  pictures  to  a  group  of  children  with 
bright  eyes  and  happy  faces.  They  are  the  gift  of 
Eastern  friends.  As  the  little  flock  of  his  gathering 
are  at  the  communion-table,  he  sees  the  pitcher  and 
tumbler  giving  place  to  a  communion-set.  This 
comes,  perhaps,  from  his  own  old  home  church.  In 
due  time,  another  point  is  gained  ;  and  a  happy  day 
is  it  when  a  house  of  worship  is  secured,  —  a  sanc- 
tuary of  God,  a  home  for*  the  church.  Here,  too, 
help  has  come  from  abroad.  How  large  the  circle, 
how  numerous  the  company,  engaged  in  this  mis- 
sionary work  ! 

7* 


7  8  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

But  we  must  not  forget  the  missionary's  helpers 
in  the  field.  We  refer  now  not  to  his  brethren  in 
the  ministry  merely,  to  whom  he  is  daily  growing 
more  and  more  attached  by  the  sympathies  of  a 
common  cause  and  service,  but  to  the  faithful  few 
he  finds  among  his  own  little  flock,  and  the  choice 
spirits,  also,  in  the  flocks  of  his  brethren.  Rare 
men  and  women  there  were  and  are  in  these  mis- 
sionary churches.  What  good  days  those  were  of 
old,  when  the  brethren  all  knew  each  other, 
and  when  the  churches  knew  each  other  too, 
somewhat ;  when  we  could  travel  over  all  the 
fields,  and  find  a  welcome  everywhere  from  home 
to  home !  With  such  co-workers  has  our  home- 
missionary  labored  on  from  youth  to  age.  Laborers 
have  increased ;  churches  have  multiplied,  and  in 
them  co-workers  not  a  few.  Again  we  say,  in  all 
that  has  been  accomplished,  "  honor  to  whom 
honor  ; "  and,  with  thanks  to  God  for  all,  let  all 
rejoice. 


CHAPTER   XI. 

RESULTS. 

HOW  genial  and  wide-spread,  in  the  spring  and 
summer  time,  are  the  influences  of  sun  and 
showers !  In  autumn  we  gather  in  the  harvests, 
and  reckon  up  their  sum.  But  have  we,  in  the  so 
many  bushels  of  corn  or  wheat,  more  or  less,  a 
measure  of  what  the  sun  and  showers  have  done  ? 
What  facts  and  figures  are  of  use  here  ? 

Like  sun  and  showers  are  gospel  influences  in  a 
State,  as  they  flow  along  the  channels  of  individual, 
domestic,  and  social  life.  The  effects  produced  are 
quite  as  much  unseen  as  seen.  They  are  such  as 
no  words  can  compass.  Human  language  cannot 
set  them  forth.  To  attempt,  therefore,  to  point  out, 
in  the  form  of  definite  and  tangible  results,  what 
home-missions  have  done  in  Iowa  may  prejudice 
rather  than  promote  our  object.  It  were  safer,  per- 
haps, to  content  ourselves  with  the  general  im- 
pression given  from  the  view  we  have  taken  of  the 
workers  and  their  field. 

Nevertheless  we  will  venture,  as  to  a  few  points, 
upon  a  closer  view ;  yet  so  as  by  the  facts  and 
figures  to  be  reminded  constantly  quite  as  much  of 
the  things  not  told  as  of  those  that  are.  We  will 


8O  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

begin  with  a  novel  scene,  —  novel  indeed  for  Iowa, 
and  rare  even  for  any  State. 

On  the  1 8th  of  November,  1868,  in  one  of  the 
busy  cities  on  the  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  there 
was  a  great  gathering  at  the  house  of  a  pastor,  one 
of  the  Band.  Within  that  modest  dwelling,  children 
had  grown  up  around  him  ;  about  him  now  were 
his  flock,  —  parishioners,  friends,  and  neighbors,  — 
the  largest  social  gathering  the  city  had  ever  seen  ; 
by  his  side  stood  one,  not  the  first  to  share  his  joys 
and  sorrows  as  wife  and  companion,  but  for  many 
years  his  helpmeet  indeed,  the  fruitage  of  whose 
exemplary  life  of  prayerful,  earnest  toil  was  in  the 
scene  around  her.  With  him,  too,  were  gathered  a 
few  —  here  a  brother,  and  there  a  sister  —  of  those 
who,  twenty-five  years  ago,  were  with  him  at  the 
beginning  of  things.  The  silver  wedding,  they 
called  it,. and  fitly,  of  pastor  and  people. 

It  was  easy  now  to  speak  of  incidents  and  dates, 
to  call  up  facts  and  figures,  to  set  the  present  mem- 
bership of  the  church  of  two  hundred,  and  the 
total  membership  from  the  beginning  of  three  hun- 
dred and  fifty-five,  over  against  the  little  band  of 
twenty-six  who  first  composed  it ;  and  to  set  in 
array  the  figures  showing  the  twenty-four  thousand 
dollars  contributed  to  benevolent  purposes  during 
the  last  twenty  years.  It  was  easy  to  contrast  the 
present  house  of  worship  with  the  first  one  built,  — 
the  little  brick  at  the  top  of  the  hill,  among  the 
stumps,  in  the  erection  of  which,  after  pockets 
were  empty,  the  brethren  brought  their  bodies  to 


RESULTS.  8 1 

the  work,  with  hod  in  hand,  carrying  brick  and 
mortar. 

It  was  easy  to  go  back  of  this  to  the  old  court- 
house, where  the  meetings  first  were  held,  and  then 
to  fill  up  this  space  of  twenty-five  years  with 
pleasing  incidents  of  revival  scenes  recalled,  and 
manifold  changes  wrought.  Easy  indeed  was  all 
this  ;  and  rich  and  rare  was  the  book  of  chroni- 
cles opened  that  night  by  the  pastor  among  his 
people. 

But  all  that  was  said,  all  that  was  thought  or 
conceived  of,  by  any  or  all,  —  what  was  it  in  com- 
parison with  the  true  history  of  the  twenty-five 
years  there  under  review  ?  To  give  that  history,  one 
must  trace  the  workings  of  prayers  and  prayer- 
meetings,  —  even  those  little  church  prayer-meet- 
ings of  the  olden  times  there,  held  in  the  after- 
noon, because  one  of  the  three  brethren  who 
were  to  sustain  them  lived  five  miles  out  in  the 
country.  He  must  tell  the  story  of  the  sermons 
from  week  to  week  prayed  over,  studied,  and 
preached  ;  of  the  good  seed  sown,  in  what  hearts 
it  took  root,  and  how  it  grew.  He  must  tell  how 
children  grew  up,  were  trained  and  moulded  by 
church  and  Sabbath  school ;  what  souls  were  born 
into  the  kingdom  of  Christ  in  the  progress  of  the 
years.  He  must  relate  the  history  of  those  souls 
in  their  Christian  development  in  this  world,  and 
tell  how  some  who  have  gone  over  the  river  were 
fashioned  and  ripened  for  heaven.  He  must  por- 
tray the  days  of  anxiety  and  solicitude  on  the  part 


82  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

of  both  pastor  and  people  in  days  of  weakness, 
when  that  church  was  among  the  little  home-mis- 
sionary churches  of  Iowa.  He  must  show  what 
was  the  part  of  each  and  all  the  home-mission 
workers,  who,  by  their  prayers,  labors,  gifts,  and 
sympathies,  sustained  it,  till,  by  the  blessing  of  God, 
its  liberty  and  Christ  loving  principles  were  trium- 
phant, and  it  became  a  tower  of  strength  among 
sister  churches  in  the  State. 

But,  if  such  things  as  these  are  to  be  fully  and 
truthfully  told,  who  is  to  be  the  chronicler  ?  And 
yet  nothing  short  of  this,  and  more  than  this, 
would  be  a  complete  history.  Over  and  above  the 
few  facts  and  figures  which  we  can  put  down  in 
connection  with  the  history  of  any  one  church,  as 
the  results  of  home-missions  in  Iowa,  there  are.  in 
the  divine  mind,  and  as  eternity  will  reveal  them, 
other  results  just  as  definite  and  tangible,  greater, 
and  more  in  number,  that  no  human  pen  can  record. 
To  that  silver-wedding  scene  of  pastor  and  people, 
with  all  its  hallowed  associations  and  precious 
memories,  we  point  as  one  of  our  results.  And  as 
with  this  church,  so  with  others  scattered  over 
the  State.  Not  that  each  church  is  as  strong  as 
this :  a  few  are  as  strong  or  stronger ;  many  are 
weaker.  Not  that  every  pastor  can  look  back  upon 
his  quarter-century  labors  in  the  same  field  ;  but 
wherever  churches  have  been  planted,  and  gospel 
ordinances  maintained,  a  like  process,  as  to  its 
general  features,  has  been  going  on. 

We   have  now   reached   a   point   where   figures 


RESULTS.  83 

begin  to  be  significant.  When  the  pastor  of 
whose  silver  wedding  we  have  spoken  began  to 
labor  with  his  little  home-missionary  church  twenty- 
five  years  ago,  and  looked  round  for  his  immediate 
allies  and  co-workers,  there  were  in  the  Territory, 
of  his  denomination,  sixteen  ministers  and  six- 
teen churches,  with  an  aggregate  membership  of 
four  hundred  and  twenty-two.  Among  them  all 
there  was  but  one  house  of  worship,  built  and  used 
expressly  as  such:  now  (1870)  there  are  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty-one  ministers,  and  one  hundred 
and  eighty-nine  churches,  with  a  membership  of 
about  ten  thousand. 

These  churches  are  well  supplied,  for  a  new 
country,  with  houses  of  worship,  some  of  which 
are  among  the  finest  structures  in  the  State.  They 
are  located  mainly  in  the  principal  centres  of  popu- 
lation and  trade,  —  places,  in  this  respect,  like  those 
in  which  Paul  first  preached  the  gospel. .  They  em- 
brace, to  say  the  least,  their  proportionate  share  of 
the  commanding  forces  of  society.  These  churches, 
as  a  general  thing,  are  alive  and  vigorous. 

The  amount  of  money  raised  by  them  during 
the  year  ending  June,  1869,  for  home  purposes  and 
benevolent  objects  abroad,  was  one  hundred  and 
thirty-six  thousand  four  hundred  and  five  dollars  ; 
and  was  equal  to  an  average  of  sixteen  dollars  to 
every  resident  church  member.  Of  these  churches 
all  but  four  were  planted  by,  and  have  been  nur- 
tured through,  the  agency  of  the  American  Home 
Missionary  Society. 


84  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

But  let  us  not  dwell  too  long  among  mere  statis- 
tics. Keeping  in  mind  the  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
nine  churches  now  scattered  over  the  State,  as  the 
fruits  of,  and  the  fruit-bearing  vines  planted  by,  the 
Home  Missionary  Society,  let  us  indicate  a  few 
facts  illustrative  of  their  significance  and  value. 

The  local  church  is  the  laboring  point  in  the 
kingdom  of  God.  Where  the  local  church  is 
vigorous  and  active,  it  includes  every  form  of  wise 
Christian  labor.  Were  the  world  to  be  converted 
by  public  gatherings  in  associations  and  conven- 
tions, by  public  councils  and  resolves,  the  work 
were  easily  done.  But  little  is  accomplished  by 
these,  useful  as  they  are  in  their  place,  save  as  those 
who  share  in  them  go  back  to  the  home  churches, 
where  by  prayer  and  by  work  the  seed  of  the  king- 
dom is  to  be  sown  among  the  people.  Here,  where 
the  gospel  is  preached  and  its  ordinances  are 
maintained,  where  the  light  shines  and  the  gos- 
pel leaven  is  at  work  in  households,  Sabbath 
schools,  congregations,  and  society  at  large,  are  the 
working  centres  of  Christianity. 

Here,  too,  are  the  laborers  for  Christ  who  are  to 
go  forth  into  other  fields,  bearing  precious  seed 
with  them.  From  these  Iowa  churches  such 
laborers  have  gone  forth  to  the  East  and  the  West 
and  the  South  and  to  the  isles  of  the  sea.  Some 
of  our  missionaries  abroad  to-day  were  raised  up 
in  the  bosom  of  these  churches,  and  others  are 
preparing  to  follow.  For  the  promotion  of  Christ's 
kingdom  in  the  land,  we  have  various  organiza- 


RESULTS.  85 

tions, —  Bible  societies,  tract  societies,  Sabbath- 
school  societies,  and  the  like.  But  who  does  not 
know,  that,  the  moment  a  home-missionary  enters  a 
field,  he  is  almost  compelled  by  the  force  of  circum- 
stances to  be  a  Bible  agent,  a  tract  agent,  a  Sabbath- 
school  agent,  and  the  agent  and  actor  in  every  form 
of  effort  by  which  Christian  work  is  to  be  done  ? 

We  hear  often  and  much  as  to  its  being  the 
province  of  certain  agencies  to  go  in  advance  of 
the  churches  ;  but  we  never  yet  heard  of  a  great 
battle  won  by  skirmishers.  All  due  honor  to  any 
body  and  any  agency  that  can  do  good  in  any 
measure  and  anywhere  ;  but  let  us  not  forget  to 
recognize  the  wisdom  of  the  divine  plans  in  accord- 
ance with  which  every  thing  effective  in  the  king- 
dom of  God  must  spring^  from  and  be  nourished 
by  "the  church  of  the  living  God,  which  is  the 
pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth."  So  shall  we  honor 
that  Society,  which,  in  the  planting  of  churches, 
in  a  sense  absorbs  and  carries  in  itself  all  Christian 
agencies. 

In  estimating  the  influence  of  these  churches 
in  Iowa,  we  must  not  forget  the  revivals  of  reli- 
gion included  in  their  history.  When  God  in  vari- 
ous ways'  so  wonderfully  prepared  this  nation 
for  the  fearful  struggle  through  which  it  has 
recently  passed,  by  abundant  harvests  and  general 
financial  success,  he  also  scattered  over  the  land 
numerous  and  powerful  revivals  of  religion,  through 
which,  in  part  at  least,  a  moral  sentiment  was 
created,  adequate  to  cope  with  the  powers  of  op- 


86  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

pression,  and  to  endure  in  the  struggle.  In  our 
accounts  of  revivals,  we  say,  So  many  were  con- 
verted, so  many  have  joined  the  church  ;  as  though 
this  were  the  whole  of  it :  but  here,  as  elsewhere, 
figures  fail  to  tell  the  story.  Follow  those  truly 
converted  through  their  life-work  ;  see  in  the  ele- 
vation and  development  of  Christian  character,  in 
the  changes  wrought  in  many  homes,  in  society,  in 
trades,  professions,  and  the  various  callings  of  life, 
the  influence  of  genuine  revivals  of  religion  ;  and 
then  you  may  begin  to  estimate  them.  So  we  shall 
see  how  the  Congregational  churches  of  Iowa,  and 
those  of  all  denominations,  have  been  blessed,  and 
made  a  blessing  to  the  State,  by  the  outpourings  of 
God's  reviving  spirit.  * 

We  should  do  injustice,  in  speaking  of  the  results 
of  home-missions  in  Iowa,  did  we  fail  to  mention, 
that  to  these  home-mission  churches  is  the  country 
largely  indebted  for  the  stand  taken  and  the  ser- 
vices rendered  by  this  new  and  rising  State  in  the 
hour  of  our  common  national  peril.  What  these 
were,  we  need  not  tell.  They  are  known  and  read 
of  all  men.  It  might  have  been  otherwise. 

Once,  when,  in  the  Territorial  Legislature,  the 
question  of  the  admission  or  rejection  of  slavery 
was  discussed,  liberty  barely  triumphed.  The  por- 
tions of  the  State  earliest  and  most  thickly  settled 
received  a  population  largely  imbued  with  Southern 
feeling  and  Southern  sentiment.  Any  open  oppo- 
sition to  human  bondage  was  decidedly  unpopular. 
Our  little  churches  found  themselves  amid  uncon- 


RESULTS.  87 

genial  elements.  They  were  stigmatized  as  aboli- 
tion churches.  Their  ministers  were  some  of  them 
threatened  with  violence  ;  but  they  stood  faithful, 
espousing  from  the  first,  and  ever  pleading,  the  cause 
of  human  rights. 

A  change  was  wrought ;  and  Iowa  is  honored  the 
country  over,  as  true  to  the  cause  of  freedom.  To 
what  extent  this  fact  is  due  to  the  churches  that 
gathered  to  their  bosoms  the  descendants  of  the 
Pilgrims,  who  had  made  new  homes  on  her  soil, 
and  lifted  aloft  the  standard  of  a  liberty-giving  gos- 
pel, may  never  be  definitely  known ;  for  here, 
again,  facts  and  figures  fail  us.  But  we  know,  that 
when  men  were  called  for,  and  armies  were  to  be 
raised,  one  out  of  every  four  of  their  ministers  sent 
a  son,  nearly  every  fourth  of  their  adult  male  mem- 
bers enlisted,  and,  from  their  congregations,  two 
thousand  went  forth  to  the  conflict.  Of  those  who 
went  from  their  communion-tables,  one  third  never 
returned.  In  the  councils  of  the  nation,  too,  was 
their  influence  felt.  Of  this  we  are  assured,  when, 
during  the  war,  there  stood  among  us  one  holding 
one  of  the  highest  positions  of  trust  in  the  gift  of 
the  State,  one  whose  voice  in  both  state  and  na- 
tional councils  had  always  been  true  and  potent  for 
liberty,  who  frankly  affirmed,  that,  in  respect  to  his 
political  principles,  he  owed  more  to  the  body  of 
men  before  him  than  any  other,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  his  political  godfather  to  be  him  who  was 
honored  with  the  title  of  "  Father  "  among  us. 

We  shall  not  be  charged  with  undue  presumption 


88  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

if  we  say  a  word  here  of  the  modifying  influence 
exerted  upon  other  denominations.  As  Congrega- 
tionalists,  we  are  neither  bigoted  nor  vain  enough 
to  feel  that  all  excellence  or  wisdom  is  with  us.  We 
set  up  no  claim  to  perfection.  Our  Western  lives 
have  taught  us  better.  As  we  now  see  it,  each  de- 
nomination of  true  believers  has  its  own  peculiar 
excellence,  around  which  it  grows,  and  from  which* 
it  has  whatever  is  peculiar  to  its  life.  The  several 
evangelical  denominations,  working  side  by  side  in 
this  open  field,  inevitably  affect  each  other.  They 
give  to  and  borrow  from  each  other.  No  one  of 
them  in  the  future  is  to  be  just  what  it  would  have 
been  by  itself.  That  future  will  not,  cannot  be 
just  what  any  one  of  them  alone  would  have  made 
it.  It  is  to  be  better  than  this,  and  each  denomina- 
tion is  to  be  the  better  for  the  others. 

The  modifying  influence  which  the  denomina- 
tions mutually  exert  is  too  marked  to  escape  the 
notice  of  any.  Let  it  go  on.  We  believe  they  are 
doing  each  other  good.  In  this  direction  should 
the  friends  of  missions  look  for  a  portion,  at  least,  of 
the  results  of  this  labor  ;  for  there  is  no  danger  that 
the  influence  of  the  polity  and  principles  of  the 
Congregational  churches  will  be  too  strong  amid 
the  farming  influences  of  the  West.  There  is  a 
need  of  them,  and  let  the  need  be  supplied. 

If  any  thing  more  is  needed  in  this  chapter  of 
results  to  inspire  the  feeling  that  this  work  of  home- 
missions  pays,  we  have  only  to  remember  that  those 
churches  are  young  and  vigorous,  and  in  a  growing 


RESULTS.  89 

field.  In  a  few  years,  other  churches  than  that 
already  referred  to,  other  pastors,  will  be  having 
their  silver 'weddings  ;  year  by  year,  additional  ones 
will  be  coming  up  to  the  point  of  self-support,  and 
pass  on  in  their  growth.  New  ones,  betimes,  will  be 
planted.  In  God's  husbandry,  how  soon  is  it  per- 
petual sunshine  and  shower,  seed-time  and  harvest, 
commingled ! 

The  sheaves  are  in  our  arms,  and  the  tender 
grain  at  the  same  time  is  springing  at  our  feet. 
Centuries  in  God's  seasons  are  but  days,  quarter- 
centuries  but  hours.  For  what  we  have  already 
seen,  let  God  be  thanked.  In  following  chapters 
we  shall  meet  with  still  further  results,  which,  with 
those  that  have  been  named,  are  but  the  seeds  of 
the  future. 


8* 


CHAPTER   XII. 

THE   IOWA    ASSOCIATION. 

IT  is  interesting  to  see  with  what  boldness  and 
independence  a  few  home-missionaries,  when 
they  get  together,  will  start  and  lay  out  plans  in  the 
West.  It  is  all  natural  enough  ;  for  a  sense  of  the 
surrounding  growth  and  progress  soon  takes  pos- 
session of  the  Western  man.  In  all  arrangements 
for  the  future  this  is  anticipated,  and  room  for  it 
carefully  made.  So  it  comes  that  some  little 
church  in  an  ordinary  village  bears  the  name  of 
The  First  Congregational  Church  of  such  a  place. 
One,  indeed,  sometimes  almost,  smiles  at  the  com- 
prehensive and  imposing  titles  with  which  some 
little  organization  is  at  the  first  burdened.  But  it 
should  be  remembered  that  the  actors  have  an  eye 
to  things  as  they  are  to  be,  not  as  they  are.  If  they 
start  with  large  titles  and  plans,  it  is  because  they 
have  confidence  that  things  will  soon  grow  up  to 
them. 

Thus  it  was,  that,  in  Denmark,  as  early  as  Nov. 
6,  1 840,  when,  as  yet,  the  State  had  hardly  begun  to 
be  settled,  the  General  Congregational  Association 
of  Iowa  was  organized,  consisting  of  three  churches, 
three  ministers,  and  one  licentiate.  It  may  not  be 


THE    IOWA    ASSOCIATION.  QI 

amiss  to  give  their  names.  The  churches  were 
those  of  Denmark,  Fairfield,  and  Danville,  with  an 
aggregate  membership  of  one  hundred  and  fifty- 
four  ;  the  ministers  were  Asa  Turner,  J.  A.  Reed, 
R.  Gaylord  ;  and  Charles  Burnham,  licentiate.  The 
first  two  are  still  members  of  the  Association,  wit- 
nessing from  year  to  year  the  fulfilment  of  their 
prophecy  in  the  name  they  gave  it ;  the  third, 
years  ago,  pitched  his  pioneer  tent  on  the  western 
bank  of  the  Missouri,  to  be  an  actor  in  like  prophe- 
cies and  fulfilments  in  a  still  more  western  State. 

The  Association  thus  formed  held  its  meetings 
semi-annually,  in  spring  and  autumn,  till  October, 
1844.  At  this  time,  minor  associations,  by  its 
recommendation,  were  formed,  to  hold  their  meet- 
ings semi-annually ;  and  its  own  meetings  began 
to  be  held  once  a  year.  The  minor  associations 
now  number  twelve.  To  these  belong  ordained 
ministers,  and  churches  represented  by  delegates. 
Ministers  and  churches  of  the  minor  bodies  are 
acknowledged  members  of  the  General  Association  ; 
making  this,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  an  annual 
gathering  of  the  churches,  for  the  exercise  of  no 
ecclesiastical  rule,  but,  as  expressed  in  the  second 
article  of  its  constitution,  "to  promote  intercourse 
and  harmony  among  the  ministers  and  churches  in 
its  connection,  to  disseminate  information  relative 
to  the  state  of  religion,  and  enable  its  members 
to  co-operate  with  one  another,  and  with  other 
ecclesiastical  bodies,  in  advancing  the, cause  of  the 
Redeemer." 


Q2  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

The  spirit  and  proceedings  of  the  annual  meet- 
ings of  this  body,  if  faithfully  given,  would,  of  course, 
reveal  much  of  the  inner  workings  and  progress  of 
missionary  and  ministerial  life  in  Iowa.  Among 
the  most  pleasing  recollections  of  the  writer  are 
those  of  a  long  series  of  these  yearly  gatherings ; 
for,  since  1844,  it  has  been  his  privilege  to  be  pres- 
ent, with  a  single  exception,  at  all  of  them.  This 
exception  occurred  when  the  shadow  of  the  death- 
angel  was  hanging  over  his  dwelling.  The  printed 
minutes  of  the  Association  for  the  last  twenty 
years  are  before  him ;  and  from  these,  and  the 
storehouse  of  his  memory,  let  a  few  things  be 
gathered. 

There  meets  us,  in  the  outset,  a  little  testimony 
touching  the  soundness  in  doctrine  of  these 
churches  and  ministers,  as  found  in  the  articles 
of  faith  .adopted  at  the  beginning,  and  ever  since 
retained.  In  the  early  days,  this  soundness  was  not 
always  conceded  to  us.  Not  only  were  our  churches 
stigmatized  in  certain  quarters  as  "  abolition,"  but 
heretical.  They  were  denounced  as  unsound  and 
irregular :  an  exchange  of  pulpits,  even  such  pulpits 
as  were  found  in  schoolhouses  and  court-houses,  was 
in  some  cases  refused. 

"Congregationalism  tends  to  Unitarianism" 
was  the  whisper  industriously  circulated.  When 
this  was  nailed  to  the  wall  by  an  appeal  to  the  true 
history  of  Congregationalism  in  New  England,  the 
shift  was,  "  Congregationalism  at  the  West  is  not 
what  it  is  in  the  East."  "  It  is  all  right  there,  but 


THE    IOWA    ASSOCIATION.  93 

out  here  it  is  loose  and  irregular  "  was  the  charge  ; 
and,  to  our  chagrin,  it  was  partly  believed,  even  at 
the  East.  When  we  most  needed  confidence  and 
sympathy,  there  was,  in  some  quarters,  somewhat 
of  coldness  and  distrust.  Among  some  of  the 
good  Eastern  fathers,  to  whom  appertained,  as  they 
seemed  to  think,  the  steadying  of  the  ark,  was  the 
feeling  that  hardly  any  good  thing  could  come  from 
the  West. 

But  these  things  have  passed  away.  Our  prac- 
tice since  has  confirmed  our  professions  at  the 
first.  We  have  long  been  recognized,  fellowshipped 
at  the  East,  as  sound  in  the  faith.  But  for  the 
savor  of  boasting  in  it,  we  might  have  mentioned 
the  present  standing  of  Western  Congregationalism, 
and  the  present  fellowship  between  the  Eastern 
and  the  Western,  as,  in  part,  at  least,  among  the 
results  of  Iowa  home-missions. 

In  view  of  what  has  now  been  said,  it  can  easily 
be  seen  how  correspondence  with  Eastern  bodies 
by  delegates  was  appreciated.  It  is  appreciated 
now  ;  but  in  former  days  it  had  a  more  precious  sig- 
nificance. At  first  we  were  few  in  number,  coming 
from  fields  new  and  widely  separated.  We  made 
provision  for  a  seat  with  us  of  delegates  from  foreign 
bodies,  which  were  then  mainly  in  the  East.  Iso- 
lated as  we  were,  and  in  our  peculiar  circumstances, 
it  was  joyous  to  see  each  others'  faces ;  but  for 
years  no  living  man  from  the  far  East  found  us  in 
our  distant  home. 

At  length  there  came   one,  —  a  godly  man  from 


94  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

Maine.  He  was  acquainted  with  some  of  our  num- 
ber in  their  youth,  and,  of  course,  had  confidence  in 
them.  As  he  looked  in  upon  us,  and  was  among 
us  in  our  prayers,  our  plans,  and  our  labors,  his 
heart  was  moved.  He  took  us  to  his  bosom.  He 
poured  forth  his  prayers  for  us,  and  gave  his  coun- 
sels to  us.  He  promised  to  take  us  back  with  him 
in  his  heart,  and  commend  us  to  the  confidence  of 
the  old  home  churches.  That  was  Christian  saluta- 
tion and  fellowship  indeed  !  In  later  years  there 
would  sometimes  be  one,  sometimes  two.  Their 
names  stand  recorded  upon  our  minutes.  Some 
of  them  have  gone  to  the  greater  gathering  above  ; 
but  their  faces  and  their  words  are  still  fresh  in  our 
memories.  Those  were  the  days  in  which  Chris- 
tian greetings  were  precious.  In  these  later  times, 
in  our  printed  lists,  the  names  of  delegates,  secre- 
ries,  etc,,  are  not  a  few,  and  our  body  sometimes 
puts  on  quite  an  imposing  aspect  ;  but  those  who 
come  now  are  not  to  us  exactly  what  the  first  and 
the  few  in  the  early  days  were. 

As  would  be  naturally  supposed,  the  meetings  of 
our  Association  have  been  characterized  by  a  high 
degree  of  Christian  love  and  harmony.  Many  things 
have  combined  to  make  them  so.  In  earlier 
years,  the  majority  of  our  number  were  old  friends 
and  classmates.  They  had  happily  coalesced 
with  those  on  the  field  before  them.  Others 
coming,  as  happily  became  one  with  them  all.  So 
it  came  to  pass  that  there  was  a  unity  of  sentiment, 
purpose,  and  plan,  unusual  in  a  Western  body ; 


THE    IOWA    ASSOCIATION.  95 

while  the  early  friendships  and  affections  formed, 
combined  with  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  a  new 
country  and  new  fields,  gave  to  the  meetings  such 
zest  and  earnest  Christian  fellowships  as  would 
hardly  be  looked  for,  and  would  seem  almost  rude, 
in  an  Eastern  body.  "  The  best  of  all,"  said  a 
daughter  of  one  of  the  missionaries,  when  old 
enough  to  attend  one  of  these  meetings,  —  "the 
best  of  all  was  to  see  them  shake  hands,  the 
first  night,  after  the  sermon."  If  some  of  the  older 
ministers  should  be  called  upon  to  give  some  of 
their  happiest  reminiscences,  they  would  not  forget 
their  journeys  of  a  hundred  or  two  hundred  miles, 
to  and  from  the  Association,  and  of  the  pleasing 
incidents  met  with  while  in  attendance.  One 
could  tell  you  that  he  went  on  foot  nearly  two 
hundred  miles,  and  felt  paid  for  the  journey. 
Others  can  remember  long  horseback  rides,  the 
fording  of  streams,  and  the  rude  yet  genial  enter- 
tainment at  night  in  the  log-cabin  by  the  way, 
whose  latch-string  was  always  out.  When  buggies 
were  introduced,  and  bridges  began  to  be  built,  it 
was  an  "age  of  progress." 

In  the  business  of  these  meetings,  seldom  has 
there  been  a  jar  of  angry  debate  or  strife  in  all 
these  twenty-five  years.  Differences  of  opinion 
have  of  course,  been  expressed,  but  with  Christian 
courtesy  ;  and,  in  the  decisions  that  have  been 
reached,  care  has  been  taken  that  the  views  of 
all  should,  as  far  as  possible,  be  regarded.  If  it 
is  good  for  "  brethren  to  dwell  together  in  unity," 


96  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

in  looking  back  through  the  long  series  of  these 
annual  meetings,  there  is  little  to  regret,  and  much 
to  be  recalled  with  pleasure. 

They  have  been  characterized  by  a  spirit  of 
prayer  and  devotion.  For  years,  the  first  evening 
was  spent  in  prayer  for  the  presence  of  the  Master. 
The  need  of  his  presence  was  peculiarly  felt  in  the 
early  days.  Experience  soon  taught  that  a  meeting 
of  friendly  greetings  simply,  without  the  presence 
and  spirit  of  Christ,  must  be  a  failure.  The  prac- 
tice of  an  opening  sermon  soon  crowded  out  this 
hour  of  prayer  on  the  first  evening ;  but  it  found, 
perhaps,  a  better  place.  It  was  put,  and  has  stood 
for  years,  in  the  middle  of  the  forenoon  of  each 
day's  session.  There  it  takes  the  freshness  of  the 
morning.  It  is  the  hour,  if  any,  that  friends  in  the 
place  can  spare  to  pray  with  their  guests.  Though 
interrupting  business,  it  steadies  it  for  the  day.  It 
gives  tone  to  the  exercises  of  the  whole  meeting. 
It  is  the  hour  of  all  others  in  which  all  wish  to  be 
present.  With  no  pride,  but  with  joy,  we  see  that 
this  practice  of  putting  an  hour  of  prayer  into  the 
best  part  of  the  day  has  in  some  cases  been  copied 
by  other  religious  bodies.  It  can  be  recommended 
to  all. 

Among  the  best  features  of  these  annual  gather- 
ings has  been  the  attendance  of  the  wives.  This 
was  especially  true  in  the  early  times.  And  why 
not  ?  As  the  brother  got  up  his  horse  and  buggy  to 
start  on  his  journey  of  a  hundred  miles  or  so,  along 
which  he  would  find  other  brethren  to  start  with 


THE    IOWA    ASSOCIATION.  Q7 

him,  why  should  he  go  alone  ?  Why  not  take 
along  his  young  wife,  and  their  one  child  ?  Will 
not  the  journey,  and  the  visits  by  the  way,  be  just  as 
refreshing  to  her  as  to  him  ?  Is  there  not  a  com- 
munion of  sisters,  as  well  as  of  brethren  ?  The 
hallowed  influences  of  these  annual  assemblies, — 
are  they  not  as  needful  and  useful  for  the  wives  as 
the  husbands  ?  At  an  early  day,  the  general  under- 
standing was,  that  the  wives,  too,  should  come.  They 
did  come,  renewing  old  and  forming  new  friend- 
ships, recounting  the  goodness  of  God  in  the  past, 
and  gathering  new  strength,  hope,  courage,  and 
consecration,  that  made  them  better  helpers  in  the 
home-mission  work. 

If  in  this,  too,  other  bodies  have  copied  our  exam- 
ple, we  think  no  harm  has  come  of  it.  But  times 
have  changed.  Family  cares  have  increased. 
Modes  of  travel  have  changed ;  becoming  more  ex- 
peditious, but  more  costly  too.  The  field  has 
enlarged.  Not  every  mother  and  wife  can  go  now ; 
but  the  attendance  of  the  sisters  is  still  a  feature 
of  the  Iowa  Association,  profitable  alike  to  them, 
their  companions,  and  the  churches.  They  have 
their  separate  meetings  for  prayer ;  while,  in  the 
regular  hours  of  devotion,  the  volume  of  supplica- 
tion is  increased  by  the  silent  uplifting  of  their 
hearts,  with  those  of  the  brethren,  to  God.  By 
the  light  of  their  cheerful  faces,  homes  are  opened 
to  a  more  cordial  hospitality  ;  they  helping  in  many 
ways  to  make  the  meeting  of  the  Association  a 
pleasure  and  a  blessing  in  any  place  where  it  is 


98  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

held.  Often,  in  some  house  or  hall,  are  social 
fellowships  added  to  the  religious.  Acquaintances 
and  friendships  are  formed,  ties  of  affection  are 
strengthened,  and  Christ's  kingdom  as  well. 

Lest  any  one  may  think  the  picture  is  overdrawn 
by  one  who  has  for  years  been  in  and  of  them,  let 
the  testimony  of  a  stranger,  whose  field  of  labor  is 
at  the  East,  but  who  came  to  us  once,  bearing  the 
greetings  of  his  brethren,  be  given.  He  says,  "  A 
few  years  ago,  I  had  the  privilege  of  attending  the 
Annual  Meeting  of  the  General  Association  of 
Iowa.  There  are  no  more  self-denying  and  faithful 
missionaries  of  Christ  anywhere  than  were  repre- 
sented there,  —  the  patriarchal  '  Father  Turner  '  at 
the  head,  apparently  the  youngest  of  them  all.  How 
those  weather-beaten  men  and  women  talked  and 
prayed  !  How  they  laid  hold  of  each  other,  and 
of  any  casual  stranger  who  might  be  present,  with- 
out waiting  for  formal  introduction,  when  the  mod- 
erator announced  that  the  time  had  arrived  for  the 
miscellaneous  shaking  of  the  hands  all  around  the 
house  !  How  enthusiastically  they  united  business 
and  enjoyment!  How  tenderly  they  sang  their 
parting  hymn,  standing  together  around  the  table 
where  together  they  had  partaken  of  the  sacrament- 
al emblems  of  a  Saviour's  love,  breaking  forth  spon- 
taneously into  song  during  the  sacramental  feast !  " 
Those  hymns,  those  songs,  we  may  add,  are  all  the 
sweeter  because  the  voices  of  the  wives  are  mingled 
in  them. 

But  let  no  one  think  that  these  Associational 


THE    IOWA    ASSOCIATION.  99 

meetings  consist  only  in  the  rhapsodies  of  Chris- 
tian fellowship,  communion,  and  prayer.  There  is 
business  too.  The  printed  minutes  furnish  abun- 
dant evidence  that  another  marked  feature  of  the 
Iowa  Association  has  been  its  prompt  and  decided 
action  from  time  to  time  upon  the  vital  questions 
of  the  day.  On  all  such  subjects  as  the  Sabbath, 
intemperance,  slavery,  the  Mexican  war,  the  Rebel- 
lion, etc.,  its  testimony  has  been  given  with  no 
uncertain  sound.  Resolutions  upon  resolutions  on 
these  topics  might  be  copied,  were  it  necessary. 

Out  of  the  necessities  that  have  arisen  in  the 
practical  working  of  things  in  this  new  field,  this 
Association  has  initiated  policies,  and  recommended 
measures,  afterwards  approved  and  adopted  by  the 
denomination  throughout  the  land.  More  than 
one  instance  could  be  named ;  but  the  most  impor- 
tant is  that  of  "  church-building  at  the  West."  No 
wonder,  that,  by  those  on  the  ground,  the  absolute 
necessity  of  houses  of  worship  should  early  be  felt, 
and  that  it  should  be  thought  aid  in  building  them, 
as  well  as  in  sustaining  the  gospel  ministry,  was 
wise  policy. 

As  early  as  1845,  more  than  twenty  years  ago, 
an  able  report  was  presented,  recommending  this 
policy  to  our  Eastern  friends.  The  policy  was 
resisted.  No  place  was  found  for  the  report  by  any 
of  the  leading  papers.  Our  friends  were  fixed  in 
the  position,  "  If  we  help  sustain  your  ministers, 
you  must  build  your  own  churches."  Six  years 


IOO  THE  -IOWA    BAND. 

later,  another  report  was  made,  drawn  by  the  same 
hand,  re-affirming  the  old  positions,  with  additional 
facts.  This  found  a  hearing.  Other  testimony, 
from  other  quarters,  was  of  course  given.  Soon 
after  came  the  Albany  Convention,  and  then  light 
began  to  dawn.  Before  the  Albany  fund,  however, 
we  had  already  our  Iowa  plan,  and  an  Iowa  fund  in 
progress.  Now  the  Congregational  Union  has  this 
as  its  special  work. 

No  thanks  in  all  this  to  us,  and  no  cause  for 
boasting.  We  only  see  in  it,  that  God,  by  the  force 
of  circumstances,  and  the  necessities  developed  by 
his  providence,  was  teaching  his  people.  If  we 
do  not,  in  some  respects,  have  better  plans  and  bet- 
ter churches  in  these  Western  fields  than  are  found 
elsewhere,  then  woe  be  to  us  ;  for  in  that  case  we 
must  be  dull  scholars  indeed. 

But  we  will  not  longer  dwell  on  these  pleasing 
recollections  of  our  Associational  meetings.  The 
plans  of  those  first  three  ministers  were  not  too 
large,  nor  were  their  expectations  visionary.  They 
believed  that  there  would  be  a  General  Congrega- 
tional Association  of  Iowa.  As  a  realization  of 
their  faith,  we  have  a  body,  we  may  modestly  sug- 
gest, highly  respectable  as  to  numbers  and  talent, 
and  characterized,  we  trust,  by  a  goodly  measure 
of  Christian  zeal  and  devotion,  whose  opinions  and 
recommendations  are  of  weight  among  its  churches, 
and  respected  in  the  land.  It  is  already  so  large 
as  to  suggest  the  coming  necessity  of  a  division. 


THE    IOWA    ASSOCIATION.  IOI 

But  "not  till  we  are  dead,"  say  some  of  the  oldest 
members  :  "  we  don't  wish  to  see  it."  How  long 
some  of  us  are  to  labor,  and  what  the  necessities  of 
the  future  are  to  be,  God  only  knows.  To  him  let 
there  be  given  praise  for  the  past,  and  in  him  let 
there  be  trust  for  the  time  to  come. 


9* 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

IOWA  COLLEGE. 

home-missionary  is  not  only  bold  in  his 
JL  plans,  but  it  is  curious  to  see  how,  as  by  in- 
stinct, his  plans  run  in  certain  directions.  Given  a 
Puritan  descent,  a  Yankee  training,  and  a  sanctified 
culture  in  New-England  institutions,  and  one  may 
know  beforehand,  as  to  certain  things  at  least, 
what  he  will  be  doing  when  first  put  into  a  new 
and  Western  field. 

"  If  each  one  of  us  can  only  plant  one  good  per- 
manent church,  and  all  together  build  a  college, 
what  a  work  that  would  be  !  "  So  said  one  of  the 
Band,  as  they  were  contemplating  their  Western 
work.  So,  too,  had  been  thinking  those  already  in 
the  field  ;  for,  at  the  close  of  one  of  the  first  meet- 
ings held  at  Denmark  after  the  arrival  of  the 

O 

Band,  they  were  invited  to  tarry  a  few  moments 
to  listen  to  plans  for  founding  a  college.  A  little 
surprised  were  they,  and  not  a  little  gratified. 

Here  was  the  beginning  of  Iowa  College. 
Thtfs  far  back  in  home-missions  in  Iowa  must  we 
go  for  its-  inception.  This  mere  seed,  as  it  germi- 
nates, takes  root,  springs  up,  and  grows,  will  develop 
still  further,  workers,  workings,  and  results.  Like 


IOWA    COLLEGE.  1 03 

many  another  Western  college  that  is  now  a  power 
and  glory  in  the  land,  it  took  its  start  out  of  prayer 
and  toil  in  the  days  of  pioneer  missionary  labor. 
It  strikes  its  roots  back  into  the  faith  and  self- 
denial  of  the  early  churches,  taught  by  the  min- 
isters to  water  it  with  their  prayers  and  their  gifts  ; 
of  its  early  teachers  and  professors,  too,  who  con- 
sented to  nurture  it  as  a  part  of  mission-work, 
and  one  involving  in  those  days  no  less  of  self- 
denial  and  toil  than  any  other.  These  are  features 
in  this  institution,  which,  thank  God,  have  not  yet 
died  out.  To  present  a  true  view  of  this  college, 
especially  of  its  earlier  history,  will  help  to  bind 
it  anew  to  the  affections  of  its  friends  ;  and  it  may 
recommend  it  to  the  confidence  of  those  whom 
God  has  enabled,  and  who  love,  to  endow  such 
institutions.  It  may  inspire  the  feeling,  that  an 
institution  so  planted  and  nurtured  must  have  the 
blessing  of  the  Lord  within  it. 

But  to  draw  the  picture  with  each  color  and 
shading  true  to  facts  and  experience  is  another 
of  those  things  that  by  no  human  possibility 
can  ever  be  done.  From  recollection  and  records 
a  few  things  only  can  be  given.  After  the  meeting 
alluded  to,  nothing  was  done  till  the  following 
spring. 

March  12,  1844,  a  meeting  of  ministers  and 
others  "interested  in  founding  a  college"  was 
held  at  Denmark,  of  course,  for  this  was  at  that 
day  the  centre  of  all  things.  The  plan  proposed 
and  approved  was  to  find  a  tract  of  land  subject 


IO4  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

to  entry,  in  some  good  location,  obtain  funds  for 
its  purchase,  and  then  sell  it  out  in  parcels  at  an 
advanced  price  to  settlers  favorable  to  the  object ; 
thus  securing  an  endowment  for  the  institution, 
and  a  community  in  which  it  might  prosper.  A 
suitable  location,  therefore,  was  the  first  object. 
A  committee  of  exploration  was  appointed,  with 
power,  when  ready  to  report,  to  call  another 
meeting.  The  call  was  issued  for  April  16,  1844, 
and  embraced  the  Congregational  and  N.  S.  Pres- 
byterian ministers  in  the  Territory,  the  most  of 
whom  were  in  attendance.  So  favorable  was  the 
report  of  the  committee,  and  so  unanimously  were 
all  previous  plans  approved,  that  the  brethren 
resolved  themselves  at  once  into  an  association, 
under  the  title  of  "  Iowa  College  Association," 
with  suitable  rules  and  regulations,  and  appointed 
an  agent  to  go  immediately  to  the  East  to  obtain 
the  necessary  funds  with  which  to  pay  for  the  land, 
agreeing  by  formal  resolution  to  defray  his  ex- 
penses from  their  own  scanty  resources. 

It  would  not  be  of  interest  to  mention  in  detail 
the  precise  date  and  circumstances  of  each  suc- 
cessive meeting  in  respect  to  the  enterprise  thus 
started.  It  is  sufficient  to  say,  that  this  College 
Association  took  charge  of  it,  until,  in  due  time,  it 
was  committed  to  a  board  of  Trustees  empowered 
to  fill  its  own  vacancies,  and  add  to  its  own 
number.  The  two  denominations  named  were 
represented  in  due  proportion  in  this  board,  and 
continued  to  be  so  represented,  until,  in  process  of 


IOWA    COLLEGE.  1C>5 

time,  from  causes  affecting  their  relations  to.  each 
other  in  the  country  at  large,  the  practical 
interest  of  the  Presbyterian  brethren  in  the  institu- 
tion diminished,  and  they  gradually  withdrew 
from  its  councils.  Thus  the  college  came  to  be 
exclusively,  as  in  point  of  interest  and  support 
it  had  mainly  been  from  the  first,  the  foster-child 
of  the  Congregationalists  ;  and  as  such  its  history 
will  be  given. 

The  agent,  of  whose  appointment  we  have 
spoken,  repaired  at  once  to  the  East,  going  directly 
to  Boston.  But  he  was  not  to  succeed.  The 
College  Society,  so  called  for  the  sake  of  brevity, 
had  just  been  formed,  with  a  view  of  systematizing 
and  regulating  appeals  at  the  Eastin  behalf  of 
Western  colleges. 

Its  friends,  at  a  called  meeting,  disapproved  of 
the  plans  of  the  agent,  and  recommended  that  a 
good  location  should  be  first  secured,  the  best  for  a 
college,  irrespective  of  other  considerations  ;  that 
donations  should  be  called  for  outright,  a  begin- 
ning be  made,  and  that  the  institution  trust  to  the 
patronage  of  the  Society,  and  of  friends  whose 
liberal  endowments  could  eventually  be  secured. 
It  seemed  like  losing  a  grand  opportunity  ;  but  the 
agent  returned.  The  Western  brethren,  with 
some  reluctance,  yet  cordially,  yielded  to  the  judg- 
ment of  their  Eastern  friends,  some  of  whom  had 
had  experience  in  the  West. 

What   the   result   would  have   been   had   their 
plans  been  carried  out,  it  is  impossible,  of  course, 


IO6  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

to  tell ;  but,  as  they  look  now  at  one  of  the  most 
flourishing  inland  towns  of  the  State,  upon  one  of 
our  principal  railroads,  with  its  water-power,  its 
timber,  and  its  prairie,  filled  and  surrounded  by  an 
enterprising  population,  right  where  it  was  pro- 
posed to  purchase  the  college  lands,  they  are 
wont  to  say  to  each  other,  "That  is  where  we 
talked  of  starting  our  college.  That  is  where,  with 
a  few  dollars,  we  might  once  have  started  and 
endowed  it.  What  would  have  been  the  outcome 
of  a  beginning  there  on  the  plan  proposed,  we  do 
not  know.  There  might  have  been  success,  there 
might  have  been  failure.  One  thing  is  certain  :  the 
plan  actually  adopted  involved  beginning  at  the 
very  lowest  round  of  the  ladder,  whence  every  step 
upward  was  of  necessity  by  the  hardest." 

The  thing  was  first  to  get  a  location,  —  a  loca- 
tion for-  a  college,  without  a  dime  besides,  a  cent 
even,  or  a  promise,  save  as  there  was  faith  in 
prayer  and  toil.  In  a  year  or  two,  the  minds  of  all 
were  agreed  upon  a  point,  which,  at  that  day,  for 
ease  of  access  and  beauty  of  situation,  stood  forth 
without  a  rival.  In  1846,  it  was  voted  to  locate 
at  Davenport,  "  provided  the  citizens  would  raise 
fourteen  hundred  dollars,  and  provide  certain 
specified  grounds  for  a  location."  Each  individual, 
moreover,  was  to  raise,  if  possible,  one  hundred 
dollars  among  his  Eastern  friends,  or  elsewhere. 
A  board  of  trustees  was  at  this  time  elected. 

This  was  the  beginning  of  work,  and  much  hard 
work,  with  slow  progress.  The  next  year,  in  1 847, 


IOWA    COLLEGE.  IC>7 

it  is  found  that  the  citizens  of  Davenport  have 
pledged  thirteen  hundred  and  sixty-two  dollars  and 
thirteen  lots  :  otherwise  little  has  been  secured. 
The  proposed  location  is  secured,  and  instructions 
given*  "  to  plan  and  erect  a  building,  which  shall  be 
a  permanent  college-building,  in  good  taste,  and 
which,  when  enclosed,  shall  not  exceed  in  cost  the 
sum  of  two  thousand  dollars." 

One  may  smile  at  the  idea  of  a  permanent 
college-building  in  good  taste,  within  the  cost,  when 
enclosed,  of  two  thousand  dollars  :  but  that  was  a 
day  of  small  things  ;  and  where  even  this  amount 
was  to  come  from,  none  could  tell.  The  trustees 
and  members  of  the  College  Association  pledged 
themselves  to  make  up  any  deficiency  there  might 
be,  not  over  six  hundred  dollars,  —  a  resolution  to 
this  effect  having  been  unanimously  adopted,  and 
signed  by  each  one  present.  Such  was  the  care 
taken  that  all  liabilities  should  be  seasonably  pro- 
vided for,  and  no  debts  incurred.  The  building 
was  erected,  and  the  bills  paid. 

In  November,  1848,  a  school  was  opened,  under 
the  charge  of  the  Rev.  E.  Ripley,  elected  as  professor 
of  languages,  with  a  salary  of  five  hundred  dollars 
a  year.  There  were  appropriate  opening  exercises, 
including  an  address  and  dedicatory  prayer.  It 
was  a  windy,  wintry  day.  Not  many  were  present ; 
but  a  few  were  there,  with  hearts  of  gratitude  to 
God  for  all  success  hitherto  in  the  enterprise 
wherein  by  faith  was  seen  a  college  for  Iowa.  As 
the  brethren  met  together  in  their  homes,  as  they 


IO8  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

came  to  their  annual  association,  they  began  to  say 
"  our  college."  They  had  need  to  say  it ;  for 
contingent  expenses,  salary,  etc.,  far  exceeded  the 
amounts  received  for  tuition.  Besides,  improve- 
ments must  be  made,  and  more  teachers  employed. 

Here  began  the  years  of  anxiety  and  labor,  — 
teachers  toiling,  trustees  planning,  and  the  execu- 
tive committee  trying  to  execute,  meeting  often, 
with  much  to  be  done,  but  never  able  to  do  it. 
When  they  could  do  nothing  else,  they  could  at 
least  pray.  So  they  worked  and  prayed  and 
worked.  Every  year,  as  the  churches  came  to- 
gether in  their  annual  association,  the  story  of  the 
college  was  told,  its  wants  rehearsed,  and  their 
prayers  and  alms  besought.  This  was  not  without 
response. 

In  1849,  there  were  subscribed  for  it  four  hundred 
and  forty-two  dollars  and  sixty-five  cents,  — all  but 
four  of  the  subscribers  being  ministers  ;  and  the 
minutes  of  that  year  show  the  whole  number  of 
ministers  to  have  been  twenty-one.  In  1850,  at 
the  meeting  of  the  association  in  Dubuque,  there 
were  reported,  besides  the  preparatory  department, 
twenty-eight  students  in  Latin,  eight  in  Greek. 
There,  too,  it  was  told  how  the  baptism  of  the 
Spirit  had  been  sent  down  upon  the  infant  college, 
as  the  seal  of  God's  approval.  There,,  also,  was 
reported  the  first  noonday  prayer-meeting  of  the 
students,— a  meeting,  which,  with  little  interruption, 
has  been  kept  up  to  this  day,  while  many  succeed- 
ing revivals  have  been  enjoyed.  As  the  old  tale  of 


IOWA    COLLEGE.  IOQ 

pecuniary  embarrassment  was  there  told,  hearts 
were  opened  for  relief,  and  four  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars  were  pledged.  In  the  minutes  of  that 
meeting  it  stands  recorded  that  "  the  wives,  also, 
of  the  ministers,  anxious  to  share  in  the  enterprise 
of  founding  this  college,  resolved  to  raise  a  hun- 
dred dollars  out  of  their  own  resources ;  and 
seventy  dollars  were  subscribed  by  fourteen  persons 
who  were  present."  "  It  was  a  great  sum  then," 
said  one  of  them,  years  afterwards  :  "  it  was  a  great 
sum  then,  five  dollars,  but  I. managed  to  pay  it." 

So  it  went  on  for  years  afterwards.  In  1852, 
a  hundred  and  fifty-three  dollars  were  raised  ;  in 
1853,  seven  hundred  and  eleven  dollars.  In  this 
year  came  the  first  decided  help  from  abroad,  —  the 
donation  from  Dea.  P.  W.  Carter  of  Waterbury, 
Conn.,  of  five  thousand  and  eighty  dollars.  It 
seemed  a  great  sum.  The  interest  of  this,  and  the 
aid  which  the  College  Society  began  to  give,  to- 
gether with  the  avails  of  our  own  efforts,  would 
have  given  relief,  only  that  increasing  wants  kept 
pace  with  increasing  means, 

New  professorships  were  established  from  time 
to  time,  till,  in  1855,  there  were  four  professors. 
By  this  time,  the  original  site  had  been  abandoned, 
a  new  one  of  ten  acres  secured,  and  an  elegant 
stone  building,  with  a  boarding-house,  erected 
upon  it.  This  change  was  caused  by  the  per- 
sistence of  the  city  authorities  of  Davenport  in 
thrusting  a  street  through  the  grounds  first  occu- 
pied. The  second  site  chosen  was  divided  and 
10 


HO  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

injured  in  the  same  way.  About  this  time  the 
Institution  was  unfortunate  in  trusts  reposed  in 
one  of  its  officers.  As  the  State  settled  up,  there 
were  prejudices  in  the  interior  against  a  river  loca- 
tion for  an  institution  of  learning  ;  and  the  feeling 
began  to  prevail,  that,  among  the  people  of  the 
place,  it  did  not  have  so  congenial  a  home  as  it 
ought. 

As  the  result  of  these  combined  circumstances, 
it  was  decided,  in  1858,  to  sell  out,  and  seek  for  a 
new  site.  God,  in  his  providence,  had  one  in  prep- 
aration. A  few  years  previous,  in  the  heart  of  the 
State,  a  colony  had  settled  with  the  express  pur- 
pose of  establishing,  and  at  the  outset  had  made 
provision  for,  an  institution  of  learning.  Here  a 
school  had  already  been  commenced.  After  due 
thought  and  much  prayer,  it  was  concluded,  with 
the  general  approval  of  all  parties  interested,  that 
the  fountain  opened  by  the  father  of  waters  should 
be  united  with  the  rill  of  the  prairies.  Accord- 
ingly, from  1859,  Grinnell,  Io.,  has  been  the  seat 
of  Iowa  College. 

We  will  not  follow  its  history  in  detail  for  the 
next  ten  years  ;  but,  if  any  one  will  take  the  pains 
to  look  at  one  of  the  illustrations  in  this  volume, 
he  will  find  an  engraving  of  two  noble  college- 
buildings.  These  stand  in  an  area  of  twenty-two 
acres,  to  which  the  verdure  of  growing  shade-trees 
adds  increasing  beauty  from  year  to  year.  The 
location  is  on  the  border  of  a  village  whose  pride 
is  the  college.  The  intelligence,  morality,  and 


IOWA    COLLEGE.  ^1  I  I 

affectionate  good  will  of  the  people  make  it  a  fit 
place  for  the  education  of  the  sons  and  daughters 
of  Iowa.  The  names  of  two  hundred  and  ninety 
of  them  are  found  enrolled  as  members  of  the 
Institution  during  the  past  year,  more  than  half 
of  whom  are  in  the  collegiate  and  preparatory 
departments. 

There  are  eight  instructors,  —  the  president,  four 
professors,  a  principal  of  the  preparatory  depart- 
ment, a  principal  of  the  ladies'  department,  and  one 
tutor.  In  the  library,  there  are  over  four  thousand 
volumes,  besides  the  smaller  libraries  of  the  liter- 
ary societies  of  the  college.  The  apparatus,  though 
far  from  what  it  should  be,  is  yet  sufficient  to  illus- 
trate the  principles  of  natural  philosophy,  chem- 
istry, and  astronomy  ;  while  admirable  collections 
have  already  been  made  in  mineralogy,  zoology, 
botany,  etc.,  which  are  arranged  in  a  cabinet  of  rare 
attraction  and  taste.  On  the  walls  of  the  college 
library  are  the  portraits  of  Carter  and  Williston, 
as  among  the  chief  founders  of  the  college.  The 
names  of  Grimes,  Ames,  Dodge,  Richards,  Merrill, 
Butler,  and  Barstow  may  be  fitly  recorded  here,  as 
of  those  who  have  largely  contributed  to  its  funds  ; 
and  perhaps  others  not  known  to  the  writer  are 
equally  deserving  of  mention. 

The  college  property,  in  the  aggregate,  now 
amounts  to  one  hundred  and  sixty  thousand 
dollars,  more  than  half  of  which  is  productive. 
The  list  of  graduates  is  not  long ;  but  they  are 
already  scattered  over  the  land,  occupying  honora- 


112  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

ble  positions  in  the  various  professions.  The 
resources  of  the  institution  are  as  yet  by  no  means 
ample.  Its  facilities  must  increase  from  year  to 
year,  to  meet  the  growing  demands  upon  it ;  but 
beholding  it  now,  and  calling  to  mind  how  hard  it 
was  to  get  together  the  two  thousand  dollars  for 
the  first  humble  building,  remembering  how  the 
seed  was  sown,  and  by  the  nurture  of  what  prayer 
and  toil  it  has  grown,  the  contrast  is  indeed 
pleasing.  Grateful  always  is  the  memory  of  labors 
past,  where  results  in  the  form  of  abounding  fruits 
are  seen. 

Before  closing  this  pleasing  review,  another 
reference  may  not  be  amiss  to  him  in  whose  first 
endowment,  in  part,  of  the  Carter  professorship 
there  was  such  courage  and  cheer.  It  was  the 
pleasing  privilege  of  the  writer  to  receive  a  portion 
of  that  gift  at  his  own  hands,  and  in  his  own  home. 
He  was  a  plain  man,  and  his  home  of  the  olden 
stamp,  somewhat  old  fashioned  in  its  air,  but  ample 
in  comfort,  without  extravagance  or  display.  Rid- 
ing about  the  village  one  afternoon,  in  the  old 
family-carriage,  he  reined  up  his  horse  where  a 
to.vnsman  was  building  a  residence  of  great  ele- 
gance and  cost.  Surveying  it  for  a  moment, 
"  There,"  said  he,  "  I  might  take  my  money,  and 
build  me  a  house  just  like  that ;  but  then,  if  I 
should,  I  should  not  have  it  to  give  to  Iowa  Col- 
lege." It  showed  that  he  had  considered  the 
question,  and  made  his  choice.  Who  will  say,  as 
he  looks  at  Iowa  College  to-day,  and  thinks  of  him 


IOWA    COLLEGE.  113 

as  having  passed  from  earth,  that  the  choice  was 
not  a  good  one  ? 

O  ye  whom  God  has  blessed  with  fortunes  that 
are  ample,  now  is  the  time  of  your  choosing.  If 
you  wish  to  turn  a  portion  of  your  means  into 
some  permanent,  mighty  power,  that  shall  work  for 
Christ  in  this  and  the  ages  to  come,  how  more 
surely  or  better  can  you  do  it  than  to  help  to  build 
in  this  Western  land  some  Christian  college  ? 
The  tongues  of  missionaries  and  pastors  sooner  or 
later  shall  be  silent  in  death  ;  teachers  change  :  but 
endowments  in  these  Christian  colleges  will  work 
on,  work  ever.  We  in  this  fair  field  would  not  be 
selfish  ;  but,  if  you  have  still  further  gifts  with 
which  to  meet  the  growing  wants  of  our  beloved 
college,  we  will  hail  them  as  new  tokens  of  God's 
blessing  upon  what  was  in  weakness  begun  for  him. 


10* 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

A    RARE    CHAPTER,    AND    SHORT. 

IF,  in  conventions,  speeches,  reports,  and  histo- 
ries, we  are  wont  to  speak  and  write  as  though 
only  men  were  actors  in  the  world,  then  is  the 
present  chapter  rightly  named ;  for  we  wish  here 
expressly  to  acknowledge  the  influence  and  aid  of 
the  wives  and  sisters.  As  woman's  work  in  the 
war  forms  one  of  the  rarest  chapters  in  the  history 
of  our  late  national  struggle,  so  if  in  this  chapter 
the  influence  alluded  to  in  our  Christian  work  in 
Iowa  could  be  but  truthfully  and  fully  unfolded,  it 
would  indeed  be  the  rarest  chapter  of  all. 

But  fully  to  present  the  intense  labor,  the  keen 
sympathy,  and  efficient  helpfulness  of  a  home- 
missionary's  wife  is  not  attempted.  They  can  at 
most  only  be  suggested.  This  began  to  be  im- 
pressed on  one  of  our  earliest  missionaries  years 
ago,  before,  by  happy  experience,  he  knew  what 
such  help  was,  by  a  scene  well  worth  describing. 
We  will  let  him  give  it  in  his  own  words  :  — 

"  I  was  a  young  man,  and  it  was  the  first  year 
of  my  ministry.  Travelling  abroad  one  day,  from 
my  field  of  labor,  I  thought  I  would  make  the  ac- 
quaintance of  a  brother  minister  of  whom  I  had 


A  RARE  CHAPTER,  AND  SHORT.       115 

heard,  but  whom  I  had  never  seen.  I  went  to  his 
house.  It  was  made  of  logs,  with  a  shingle  roof, 
with  one  room  below,  and  the  usual  loft.  As  I 
remember,  it  was  about  sixteen  feet  square,  with  a 
passage  through  it  by  a  door  on  each  side.  On 
one  side  of  the  room  was  a  stove,  on  the  other  a 
bed,  with  the  usual  display  of  kettles,  dishes,  hats, 
clothing,  etc.,  found  in  such  houses.  The  brother 
was  not  at  home..  His  wife,  I  was  told,  was  above, 
and  sick.  I  was  invited  to  go  up  and  see  her.  I 
did  so,  ascending  by  a  ladder  in  one  corner. 

"  There,  sitting  on  her  bed,  having,  with  an  evi- 
dent exertion,  arranged  her  person  for  the  reception 
of  a  stranger,  was  the  missionary's  wife,  frail  in 
form,  pale  and  sickly  in  countenance.  Her  con- 
stitution was  evidently  fragile,  and  to  her  bodily 
suffering  was  no  stranger.  I  shall  never  forget 
how  she  looked,  nor  with  what  womanly  courtesy 
she  received  me.  Her  eye  beamed  hopefully  ;  and 
her  smile,  though  languid,  was  cheerful.  Not  a 
murmur  did  she  utter,  and  scarcely  an  apology  even 
for  any  thing.  An  air  of  peace  and  contentment 
characterized  her.  I  noticed  that  the  whole  roof 
was  a  little  askew,  as  though  it  had  been  lifted  up, 
and  turned  around,  and  let  down  again,  with 
articles  of  clothing  caught  in  the  cracks. 

" '  That,"  said  she,  '  was  done  by  a  hurricane  we 
had  a  few  days  ago.  The  wind  blew  terribly  for  a 
*vhile.  I  was  here  all  alone,  and  thought  once  the 
house  was  going ;  but  somehow  I  felt  safe.'  " 

"  Her  husband,  she  said,  had  gone  to  the  river  to 


I  1 6  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

get  a  load  of  lumber.  She  was  sorry  he  had  to 
work  so  hard.  He  was  lame,  and  not  strong  ;  but 
ministers  had  to  do  many  things  to  which  they 
were  strangers  elsewhere,  in  a  new  country.  '  The 
worst  of  it  all  is,'  she  said,  '  I  can't  help  him,  I 
am  sick  so  much.  I  feel  so  sorry  when  I  think 
sometimes  that  I  must  be  only  a  burden,  and  of  no 
use  to  him.' 

"  Then  she  went  on  to  speak,  with  her  whole  soul 
in  it,  of  the  missionary  work  in  which  he  was 
engaged.  I  tarried  for  the  night,  and,  in  the  morn- 
ing, went  on  my  way  with  a  new  insight  into  the 
realities  of  the  mission-work.  Especially  did  I 
there  begin  to  see  how  woman  in  patience  could 
endure  -self-sacrifice,  self-denial,  and  toil,  and  how 
keenly,  in  every  fibre  of  her  being,  she  could  sym- 
pathize in  all  her  husband's  plans  and  labors  for 
Christ.  -  In  after  years  it  was  often  my  privilege  to 
be  in  that  family.  Her  health  afterwards  was 
better ;  and  then  I  saw  how  a  wife,  in  the  fortitude 
of  a  trusting  spirit,  could  cheer,  encourage,  and 
help  her  husband  in  his  work.  In  other  cases  I 
have  often  seen  it,  and  as  often  asked,  '  What 
could  our  brethren  do  without  their  wives  ? ' ' 

The  first  draft  made  on  the  energies  of  home- 
missionary  wives  is  made  through  their  keen  sym- 
pathy with  all  that  pertains  to  their  husband's 
work :  the  next  is  in  connection  with  their  family 
cares.  It  has  often  been  remarked,  and  somewhat 
truthfully,  that  the  hardships  of  a  new  country  fall 
more  heavily  on  women  than  men.  A  Western 


A  RARE  CHAPTER,  AND  SHORT.        I  I/ 

farmer,  as  a  general  thing,  at  the  very  outset,  can 
carry  on  his  out-door  operations  quite  as  easily  on 
his  new  Western  farm  as  he  could  on  the  old  and 
harder  lands  of  the  East.  But,  between  the  old 
Eastern  homes  and  all  the  little  home  conve- 
niences of  a  long-settled  country,  and  the  new  log- 
cabin  and  the  nameless  discomforts  of  a  new 
country,  the  difference  is  wide.  Here  it  is  that 
bricks  are  to  be  made  without  straw,  and  that  the 
exigencies  of  a  new  country  are  especially  hard 
upon  women.  The  experience  of  home  missiona- 
ries' wives  is,  in  this  respect,  the  same  as  that  of 
others. 

As  was  natural,  among  the  all-sorts  of  Yankee 
questions  alluded  to  in  the  first  part  of  this 
book,  as  having  been  asked  by  the  "  Band  "  prior 
to  their  coming  West,  were  inquiries  whether  a 
missionary  should  be  married  or  unmarried,  and 
whether  wives .  could  be  maintained  and  made 
comfortable.  There  came  back  but  this  one  an- 
swer :  "  Wives  are  the  cheapest  things  in  all  Iowa. 
Bring  wives !  Bring  Yankee  wives,  that  are  not 
afraid  of  a  checked  apron,  and  who  can  pail  the 
cow,  and  churn  the  butter." 

It  would  not  be  safe  to  say  that  every  one  here 
has  been  able  literally  to  fill  this  bill  ;  but  it  is  safe 
to  say  that  the  rude  and  rough  experiences  of 
Western  life  have  been,  and  are  now  being,  nobly 
borne  by  the  wives  of  missionaries.  For  a  newly 
married  couple,  just  from  the  East,  to  begin  house- 
keeping in  two  rooms,  with  only  a  little  stove,  and 


Il8  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

some  boxes  for  chairs  and  tables,  is  not  much. 
There  is  a  touch  of  romance  in  it,  with  hopes  of 
better  days.  To  see  a  missionary  pastor's  young 
wife,  fresh  from  the  delicacies  of  an  Eastern  city 
home,  at  Association  time,  when  ministers  and 
delegates,  and  wives  and  children,  come  pouring 
in  beyond  the  preparations  of  the  village  to  ac- 
commodate them,  call  for  a  farm-wagon,  take  the 
reins  herself,  and  scour  the  country  for  straw,  till 
straw  beds  are  provided,  and  placed  in  bedroom, 
entry,  and  parlor  even  ;  to  see  the  sister-wives  turn 
in  for  days  to  help  her,  and  then  all  go  to  meeting 
together,  —  this,  too,  is  well  enough.  There  is  a 
dash  and  novelty  in  it,  that  makes  an  occasion  long 
and  pleasantly  to  be  remembered. 

But  let  years  roll  on,  children  be  born,  and  cares 
increase  ;  let  the  days  come  when  there  is  moving 
from  house  to  house,  and  perhaps  from  place  to 
place,  till  the  little  furniture,  new  at  first,  begins  to 
be  old  ;  let,  from  year  to  year,  the  limit  of  the  little 
salary  be  most  plainly  marked,  and  the  increasing 
study  be  how  to  keep  within  it  ;  let  the  necessity 
come  for  all  sorts  of  contrivances,  such  as  making 
washstands  and  toilet-tables  out  of  old  boxes,  turn- 
ing worn  garments,  making  over  old  ones  for  a 
new  look,  transmuting  those  of  the  older  children 
to  the  younger,  —  and  missionary  wives  find  that 
no  small  part  of  the  missionary  work  and  the  mis- 
sionary sacrifice  is  theirs.  Nobly  have  they  borne 
it,  till  the  bloom  of  youth  has  faded  from  many  a 
cheek,  yet  cheerfully  till  some,  overburdened,  have 
fallen  by  the  way. 


A  RARE  CHAPTER,  AND  SHORT.        I  IQ 

But  we  have  alluded  only  to  the  less  important 
phases  of  their  work.  When  a  little  church,  with 
a  young  pastor  and  his  wife,  is  started  in  a  new 
village  hitherto  destitute  of  the  means  of  grace,  it 
is  interesting  to  see  what  a  change  is  soon  wrought, 
and  how  a  new  and  better  order  of  things  is  in  many 
respects  speedily  established.  Children  are  gath- 
ered from  Sabbath  roamings  to  the  Sabbath  Schools  ; 
young  people,  and  sometimes  older  ones  too,  let  go 
their  balls  and  dancing-parties  for  sewing-circles 
and  church  sociables  ;  Christmas-trees,  children's 
gatherings  of  various  kinds  are  introduced,  prayer- 
meetings  too,  —  the  ladies'  prayer-meeting  and  the 
church  prayer-meeting. 

Some  among  the  flock  are  sick,  or  are  in 
poverty  and  sorrow,  and  must  be  ministered  unto  ; 
and  some  are  to  be  buried  with  a  Christian  burial. 
Here  opens  a  field  for  the  wife.  We  may  say, 
indeed,  that  she  is  under  no  obligation  in  these 
matters  more  than  any  others  ;  that,  when  hus- 
bands agree  to  be  ministers,  wives  do  not ;  and  that 
they  ought  not  to  be  compelled  to  the  double 
toil  of  parochial  and  domestic  duties.  All  true : 
yet  who  would  keep  them  from  it  ?  Who  would 
be  willing  to  spare  this  part  of  mission  -  work  ? 
How  great  a  part  it  is  ! 

.  But  we  ought  not  here  to  speak  of  missionaries' 
wives  alone.  In  all  our  churches  there  are  two  or 
three  women  to  one  man.  These  churches  at  the 
outset,  in  the  days  of  their  feebleness,  were  com- 
posed, in  many  cases,  of  one  or  two  brethren  only, 


I2O  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

surrounded  by  a  band  of  noble  sisters.  Where 
then  was  their  strength  ?  What  wonder  if  there 
were  some  praying  and  talking  then,  and  voting 
too,  other  than  that  done  by  the  brethren  ?  If,  in 
the  days  of  our  Saviour,  woman  ministered  to  him, 
and  he  honored  her  ministry,  if  Paul  acknowl- 
edged his  indebtedness  to  those  women  who  helped 
him  in  the  gospel,  is  it  not  well  for  us  to  remem- 
ber how  prominent  has  been  woman's  influence 
and  work  in  the  planting  and  rearing  of  the  Iowa 
churches  ? 

"  Who  is  that  ?  "  was  asked  of  a  lady  who  had 
just  admitted  a  stranger  to  her  door.  "  It  is  the 
man  I  have  long  been  praying  for,"  was  the  reply. 
"  He  says  he  is  a  missionary  sent  by  the  Home 
Missionary  Society."  To  this  day  that  Christian 
woman  is  laboring  with  that  then  newly-arrived 
minister,  in  the  firm  belief  that  he  was  sent  of  God. 
So  has  it  been  with  many  another.  Ministers 
have  not  only  been  obtained  and  supported,  but 
churches  have  often  been  gathered,  and  meeting- 
houses built,  more  through  the  prayers  and  ener- 
gies of  the  sisters  than  through  those  of  the 
brethren.  As  the  world  goes,  when  battles  are 
won,  generals  are  praised,  and  private  soldiers  for- 
gotten. But,  in  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  let  it  not 
be  so.  Let  not  the  source  of  the  rarest  and  best 
influence  employed  in  the  Master's  service  be  un- 
acknowledged. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

FRAGMENTS. 

MORE  completely,  if  possible,  to  reveal  to 
the  reader  the  inner  view  of  home -mis- 
sionary life,  we  present  in  this  chapter  a  few  inci- 
dents from  the  personal  reminiscences  and  expe- 
riences of  the  brethren.  Broken  sketches  indeed 
they  will  be,  and  diverse,  —  some  joyous  and  some 
sad,  some  serious  and  some  humorous,  but  all  true 
to  the  life,  because  real.  For  some  of  these  the 
writer  is  indebted  to  the  brethren  who  have  kindly 
furnished  them ;  others  he  has  culled  from  old  num- 
bers of  The  Religious  News-Letter,  —  the  files  of 
which  are  an  honor  to,  as  they  are  a  record  of,  the 
Iowa  churches,  for  the  time  in  which  it  was  pub- 
lished. Many  a  regret  has  there  been  that  it  ever 
ceased  to  be.  In  these  sketches  the  actors  are  liv- 
ing, as  the  names  of  persons  are,  in  the  main, 
omitted  First,  are  a  few 

REVIVAL    REMINISCENCES. 

"  Where'er  we  seek  Him  he  is  found, 
And  every  place  is  holy  ground." 

"  I  was  once  invited  to  assist  a  home-missionary 
in  a  series    of  religious  meetings,  under  peculiar 
11 


122  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

circumstances.  Although  it  was  a  considerable 
village,  yet  there  was  neither  meeting-house, 
school-house,  hall,  nor  other  room  large  enough  to 
accommodate  a  congregation  such  as  might  be 
expected  to  gather,  with  the  exception  of  a  spa- 
cious nine-pin  alley.  To  the  astonishment  of 
everybody,  and  especially  of  the  minister,  the 
owner  of  that  building,  which  joined  the  liquor- 
saloon,  offered  without  solicitation  the  use  of  it 
for  a  protracted  meeting,  as  long  as  it  might  be 
needed  ;  and  that,  too,  without  any  pay,  although  it 
was  bringing  him  in  an  income  of  ten  dollars  a 
day. 

"  This  offer  was  gladly  accepted  ;  and  immediate 
arrangements  were  made  for  its  occupancy.  On 
my  arrival  at  the  place,  I  was  conducted  to  this 
novel  house  of  worship,  which  I  found  fitted  up 
with  seats  made  of  rough  boards  arranged  across 
the  alley  nearly  the  whole  length  of  it.  At  one 
end,  a  billiard-table  was  placed  in  position  for  a 
desk ;  while  in  one  corner,  behind  the  speaker's 
stand,  were  piled  up  the  pins  and  balls.  It  was 
well  lighted  and  warmed,  and,  on  the  whole,  consti- 
tuted quite  an  inviting  audience-room  ;  and  when 
as  soon  came  to  be  the  case,  it  was  filled  with 
attentive  listeners,  and  pervaded  by  a  spirit  of  true 
devotion,  the  original  design  of  it  was  entirely 
forgotten.  Here  were  held  meetings  for  preaching 
every  evening,  and  for  prayer  and  conference  and 
inquiry  during  the  day,  for  more  than  two  weeks ; 
and  the  Spirit  of  God  condescended  to  be  present, 


FRAGMENTS.  123 

and  render  them  profitable  and  delightful  seasons,  — 
seasons  which  will  be  remembered  in  eternity  by 
some,  as  probably  among  the  most  precious  ever 
enjoyed  on  earth. 

"  Frequently  we  could  hear  the  conversation  and 
the  noise  of  the  toddy-stick  in  the  saloon  adjoin- 
ing, separated  from  us  only  by  a  thin  board  parti- 
tion ;  but  so  deeply  interesting  were  our  services, 
that  these  incongruous  sounds  did  not  disturb  us, 
or  divert  attention  from  eternal  things.  Seldom 
have  I  enjoyed  such  services  more,  or  seen  more 
marked  effects  from  them. 

"  During  the  progress  of  these  meetings,  there 
were  many  hopeful  conversions,  —  the  exact  num- 
ber I  do  not  remember ;  and  it  is  an  interesting 
and  suggestive  fact,  that,  among  the  converts,  was 
the  son  of  the  proprietor  of  the  building  in  which 
we  met.  At  the  close  of  the  series  of  meetings, 
a  church  was  formed  ;  and  the  record  in  the  church- 
book  states  that  it  was  '  organized  on day  of 

,  in  Mr. 's  ninepin  alley.'     Subsequently, 

a  house  of  worship  was  erected  for  this  congrega- 
tion. The  minister,  now  deceased,  and  '  whose 
sun  went  down  while  it  was  yet  day/  was  after- 
wards called  to  a  more  important  field,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded for  a  time  by  one  who  is  now  one  of  our 
ablest  and  most  popular  preachers. 

"  On  another  occasion,  I  was  called  to  aid  a  minis- 
terial brother  in  a  protracted  meeting  in  a  consider- 
able farming  settlement,-  where  there  was  no  church 
organization,  and  no  house  of  worship.  The  school- 


124  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

house  being  too  small,  it  was  decided  to  hold  the 
services  in  a  large  barn,  the  weather  being  favora- 
ble. There,  day  after  day,  we  preached,  the  people 
occupying  the  barn  floor,  and,  when  that  became 
too  strait,  resorting  to  the  hay-mows  and  bays  ad- 
joining. Here,  too,  we  enjoyed  the  presence  of 
God ;  and  a  delightful  work  of  grace  was  wit- 
nessed. 

"  At  another  time,  while  exploring  the  country 
with  a  brother  minister,  we  came  to  a  place  of  con- 
siderable importance  at  that  day,  in  its  own  imme- 
diate vicinity,  but  occupied  in  the  main  by  a  most 
godless  community.  Still  there  was  a  little  leaven 
there.  A  small  band  of  Christians,  the  remnant  of 
a  church  that  had  once  been  organized  there,  were 
praying,  and  for  weeks  had  been  pleading  for  a  re- 
vival of  religion  in  the  place.  As  soon  as  it  was 
known  by  them  that  two  ministers  were  in  town, 
they  at  once  took  it  as  God's  token  for  good,  and 
immediately  besought  us,  with  an  earnestness  that 
would  take  no  denial,  to  tarry,  and  begin  without 
delay  a  protracted  meeting. 

"  Not  daring  to  refuse,  we  consented.  Here,  too, 
the  only  place  of  gathering  to  be  found  was  a  va- 
cant storeroom  in  the  centre  of  the  village.  Here, 
in  a  dimly  lighted  room,  with  drinking  and  gam- 
bling saloons  on  all  sides  of  us,  like  Paul  and  Bar- 
nabas, we  preached  the  gospel  for  two  weeks  ; 
during  which  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  came  down 
and  filled  the  place  with  the  glory  of  his  presence. 
More  than  thirty  persons  were  converted ;  and  a 


FRAGMENTS.  12$ 

church  was  afterwards  organized,  a  meeting-house 
built,  and  the  morals  of  the  place  improved,  as  the 
result,  we  will  not  say  of  the  preaching,  but  of  the 
earnest  prayers,  of  those  few  pleading  Christians. 
From  such  cases  we  are  constrained  to  say,  Let 
bands  of  believers  everywhere,  even  without  min- 
isters, be  encouraged  to  pray,  and  trust  the  Lord 
for  help  ;  let  ministers  and  churches  not  wait  for 
new  houses  of  worship,  or  more  favorable  circum- 
stances, but  go  to  work  in  faith  and  hope  with  such 
facilities  as  they  have,  and  the  Lord  shall  bless 
them." 

Often,  in  new  settlements,  it  is  interesting  to 
note  the  changes  wrought  by  the  introduction  of 
the  gospel ;  and  sometimes  among  the  hardy  but 
rough  backwoodsmen  there  are  marked  conversions, 
showing  the  power  of  God  to  change  the  lion  to 
the  lamb.  Illustrative  of  .this,  a  brother  gives  us  a 
sketch  under  the  title  of 

THE    PET    BEAR. 

"  In  the  year  1845,  I  was  preaching  in  the  desti- 
tute neighborhoods  of  the  lead-mining  region 
west  of  Dubuque.  On  my  first  introduction  to  the 
settlement,  I  found  no  religious  services  at  all,  and 
no  observance  of  the  Sabbath.  That  day  was 
usually  spent  as  a  holiday,  in  carousing  and  sporting. 
During  the  first  year  of  my  labor  there,  I  did  not 
know  even  a  single  family  where  the  worship  of  God 
was  observed.  Many  of  the  miners  had  dropped 
11* 


126  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

their  proper  names,  and  were  known  only  by  titles 
or  names  which  indicated  some  distinguished  trait 
of  their  character,  and  which  had  been  given  them 
by  their  companions.  In  passing  through  a  con- 
siderable tract  of  timber  to  reach  the  schoolhouse 
where  I  preached,  I  frequently  met  parties  of  hunt- 
ers on  a  Sabbath  morning,  and  could  not  fail  to  hear 
the  oaths  which  mingled  in  their  common  conver- 
sation. 

"  After  a  while,  in  coming  upon  them  suddenly,  I 
could  hear  the  suppressed  '  Hush,  hush! '  and  swear- 
ing would  cease  while  I  was  within  hearing.  This 
was  the  first  hopeful  indication  of  an  awakened 
conscience ;  and  it  seemed  to  me  to  be  the  dawn  of 
a  better  state  of  things.  Then,  when  they  saw  me 
coming,  they  would  '  break  and  scatter.'  Their 
dogs,  however,  told  upon  their  masters  ;  and  I  could 
not  restrain  a  smile,  as  my  eye  would  detect  a  man 
here,  and  another  there,  trying  to  place  a  tree  be- 
tween me  and  himself,  acting  the  squirrel  to  perfec- 
tion. Here,  too,  I  thought,  is  hope. 

"  It  was  not  long  after  this  when  a  passing  shadow 
in  the  schoolhouse  window  or  doorway,  during 
preaching,  would  arrest  the  eye,  and  lead  to  the  de- 
tection of  listeners  without.  Then,  a  little  bolder, 
and  conscience  a  little  more  active,  they  would  lean 
their  rifles  against  a  tree,  and  themselves  stand  out 
in  full  view,  hearing  what  the  preacher  had  to  say, 
or  would  seat  themselves  on  the  doorstep ;  and 
finally  they  would  venture  into  the  house,  leaving 
their  guns  outside,  but  still  wearing  powder-horn 


FRAGMENTS.  12J 

and  shot-belt  across  their  shoulders,  and  would  sit 
quiet  and  attentive  listeners. 

"  In  the  winter  of  1847,  we  held  a  series  of  reli- 
gious meetings.  The  Rev.  J.  C.  H.  came  out,  and 
preached  ten  or  twelve  days.  It  was  a  memorable 
time  in  the  history  of  that  community.  The  word 
preached  was  attended  with  divine  power ;  and 
many  of  the  hardest  characters  bowed  to  the  mild 
reign  of  the  Saviour,  and  became  new  creatures  in 
Christ  Jesus. 

"  Among  this  number  was  '  The  Pet  Bear.'     His 

proper  name  was  Thomas   B n.     He  was  one 

of  the  early  pioneers,  a  real  backwoodsman,  pos- 
sessing a  powerful  frame  ;  was  just  in  the  pride  of 
life,  a  hard  drinker,  and  one  of  the  most  profane 
men  I  ever  knew,  and  a  perfect  slave  to  a  passion- 
ate temper,  that  not  unfrequently  raged  like  a  tor- 
nado. With  him  it  was  a  word  and  a  blow,  often 
the  last  first. 

"  On  several  occasions  I  had  attempted  to  con- 
verse with  him  on  the  subject  of  religion,  but  was 
answered  by  a  volley  of  oaths  ;  and  I  had  learned 
to  fear  coming  in  contact  with  him.  During  the 
meetings,  I  turned  out  of  my  way  one  evening, 
and  stopped  at  his  cabin  door.  He  was  there.  I 
said  to  him,  '  Mr.  B.,  we  are  having  some  good 
meetings  at  the  schoolhouse,  and  most  of  your 
companions  attend.  I  wish  you  would  come  :  we 
shall  be  glad  to  see  you.'  Without  giving  him  an 
opportunity  to  reply,  I  bade  him  good-evening,  and 
walked  on.  To  our  astonishment,  he  entered  the 


128  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

house  with  his  wife.  A  solemn  and  searching  ser- 
mon was  preached,  in  which  the  guilt  of  the  sinner 
was  faithfully  exposed,  and  the  love  of  the  Saviour 
clearly  set  forth.  He  listened  attentively,  and  was 
evidently  affected.  Nothing  was  said  to  him,  we 
shook  hands,  and  he  left  for  home. 

"  Early  the  next  morning,  one  of  the  neighbors 
came  to  me  and  said,  '  Mr.  W.,  I  wish  you  would 
go  and  see  "  The  Pet  Bear !  "  '  — '  Why  do  you  wish 
it  ? '  I  asked.  He  replied,  '  There  is  something 
the  matter  with  him.  He  came  home  from  meet- 
ing last  night  like  a  fury.  He  sat  down  in  a  chair 
before  the  fire,  and  he  has  been  there  all  night.  I 
do  not  know  what  it  is,  but  he  is  weeping  like  a 
child.  As  I  was  passing,  his  wife  came  out  and 
whispered  to  me  to  ask  you  to  come  and  see  him.' 

"  With  silent  prayer  that  God  would  teach  me  how 
to  meet  him,  and  what  to  say,  I  hastened  to  his 
cabin,  and  there  found  him  sitting  with  his  head 
bowed  on  his  hands,  between  his  knees,  and  the 
tears  trickling,  down  between  his  fingers,  and  falling 
on  the  hearthstone.  I  drew  my  chair  up  to  him, 
and  asked  him  kindly  to  tell  me  the  cause  of  his 
distress.  After  a  pause,  he  looked  up  in  my  face  ; 
and,  with  a  look  and  emphasis  I  shall  never  forget, 
he  said,  '  O  Mr.  W. !  I  am  the  most  wicked  and 
the  most  wretched  sinner  in  the  world,  and  I  don't 
know  what  to  do  :  can  you  tell  me  ? ' 

"  I  endeavored,  in  a  plain,  simple  way,  to  show  him 
the  love  of  the  Saviour,  and  his  readiness  to  par- 
don all  who  came  to  him  sick  of  sin,  and  who  de- 


FRAGMENTS. 

sired  to  break  away  from  it,  and  give  him  their  love, 
and  obey  him.  He  listened,  and,  with  a  strange 
expression,  said,  '  What !  you  make  me  believe  that 
he  came  to  seek  and  to  save  such  a  lost  sinner  as  I 
am  ? ' — '  Yes/  I  replied  :  '  he  came  to  save  the  chief 
of  sinners,  who  repent  and  hope  in  his  mercy.' 
— '  Ah  !  but,'  he  urged,  '  you  do  not  know  what  a 
wicked  sinner  I  have  been.'  —  '  No,'  I  replied  ;  '  but 
the  Saviour  does  ;  and  he  says  to  you,  "  Come  unto 
me  :  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  you  out."' 

"  I  spent  nearly  the  whole  day  with  him.  He 
became  calm,  and  listened  like  a  little  child.  In 
a  few  days  he  had  intelligently  given  himself  to 
Christ,  and  felt  by  joyful  experience  that  the  blood 
of  Jesus  could  cleanse  even  such  '  a  desperate  sin- 
ner as  he  was.' " 

"  He  was  no  longer  '  The  Pet  Bear,'  having  by 
grace  put  on  the  nature  of  the  lamb  ;  constraining 
all  around  to  exclaim,  '  What  hath  God  wrought ! ' 
He  said  to  me,  '  My  cabin  is  small,  but  it  is  at 
your  service.  Come  and  preach  in  it ;  come  and 
hold  a  Sabbath  school  in  it.  I  don't  know  much, 
and  should  make  out  poorly  teaching  others  ;  but  I 
can  talk  about  what  Jesus  Christ  has  done  for  me. 
You  know,'  he  said,  ' "  The  Pet  Bear "  has  been 
a  faithful  servant  of  the  Devil  a  great  many  years  : 
now  it  is  God's  turn.  I  hope  to  become  as  faithful 
a  servant  to  him  as  ever  I  was  to  my  old  master. 
I  want  you  to  tell  me  what  I  can  do.  I  never  was 
afraid  of  a  man  ;  and,  since  God  has  made  me 
strong  to  work  for  him,  ought  I  ever  to  be  ashamed 


I3O  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

to  tell  what  a  wonderful  work  he  has  wrought  in 
me  ? 

' "  You  see,'  he  said,  '  I  have  been  thinking  it 
over,  and  I  know  I  shall  have  a  hard  row  to  hoe. 
I  know  it  will  be  up  stream  with  me  all  the  way. 
But  then  I  have  a  sure  pilot  if  I  only  listen  to  Him  ; 
and  when  I  find  the  stream  too  rapid,  why,  I  shall 
paddle  to  shore,  and  tie  up  to  Jesus  ;  and  I  know, 
if  I  tell  him  all  about  it,  and  ask  him  to  help  me 
through,  he  will  do  it.' 

"  During  his  absence  from  the  house,  his  wife  told 
me,  that,  after  I  left,  on  the  preceding  evening,  she 
expected  an  outburst  of  temper ;  but,  instead  of 
this,  he  turned  to  her  and  said,  '  Wife,  get  your 
things  on,  and  we'll  go  to  meeting.'  Then  began  a 
perfect  tornado  of  oaths  against  himself,  occasion- 
ally speaking  to  himself;  '  Spew  it  out,  Pet ;  it  is  the 
last  time:  get  rid  of  it ;  for  I  mean  to  cut  a  new 
set  of  houselogs  ; '  meaning  he  intended  to  begin  a 
new  course  of  life.  He  went  to  the  meeting  :  she 
was  sure,  from  his  manner,  the  sermon  had  touched 
him.  On  his  way  home,  she  said,  his  oaths  made 
her  tremble:  it  seemed  as  though  he  was  possessed 
of  seven  devils.  As  he  reached  his  cabin  door,  he 
turned  to  her,  and  said,  '  There,  wife,  it  is  all  out ; ' 
and,  with  such  an  expression  as  she  had  never  heard 
from  him  before,  he  cried  out,  '  O  God,  help  me  ! ' 
He  took  a  seat  before  the  fire,  and  had  scarcely 
altered  his  position  during  the  whole  night.  The 
Spirit  of  God  was  dealing  with  him,  and  he  wept 
the  tears  of  a  repenting  and  returning  prodigal. 


FRAGMENTS.  131 

Until  I  left  that  field,  his  was  a  consistent  Christian 
walk." 

Such  scenes  as  the  preceding,  though  by  no 
means  uncommon,  are  not  always  connected  with 
home-mission  work  in  a  new  country.  Some- 
times it  is  the  lot  of  one  to  labor  on  with  only 
gradual  changes  for  the  better,  as  in  the  day  of 
small  things,  but  laying  foundations  for  the  future. 
This  is  the  trial  of  our  faith  and  hope. 

The  following  is  the  partial  experience  of  one 
whose  lot  it  was  for  a  few  years  to  do  pioneer 

work  in  C r  County,  and  then  return  to  an 

Eastern  field.  It  will  be  of  interest  to  those  ac- 
quainted with  the  localities,  and  will  show,  among 
other  things,  that  the  Home  Missionary  Society  is 
not  confined  in  its  labors  to  places  where  churches 
are  organized  :  — 

"  I  became  a  resident  of  the  county  in  the  win- 
ter of  1844,  and  organized  the  church  in  the  spring 
following,  —  May  5.  It  consisted  of  three  members. 
It  was  a  rainy  day,  which  prevented  some  others 
from  being  present  to  unite  with  us.  It  was  formed 
in  the  bar-room  of  the  public  house,  or,  rather,  the 
public  room  of  the  house  where  I  boarded.  The 
first  summer,  I  preached  in  the  upper  room  of  the 
jail,  used  during  the  week  as  a  carpenter-shop. 
The  carpenter  was  an  avowed  atheist,  but  helped 
me  to  clear  up  the  room  for  the  meetings. 

"  Subsequently  I  occupied  the  Court  House  as  a 
place  of  worship,  alternating  with  the  Methodist 
circuit-rider.  There  were  received  into  the  church 


132  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

while  I  was  there,  thirty-two.  I  baptized  nineteen 
infants,  attended  twenty-one  funerals,  and  married 
five  couples.  The  figures  do  not  show  much.  It 
was  a  dark  day,  a  long  trial  of  faith  and  patience. 
But  the  aspect  of  things  was  brightening  before  I 
left.  Among  other  encouragements,  a  female 
prayer-meeting  gave  promise  of  better  days.  I 
preached  in  various  neighborhoods,  usually  at  two, 
sometimes  at  three  places  on  the  Sabbath,  without 
appointments  during  the  week.  I  ranged  the 
country  far  and  near,  having  preaching  stations  in 
every  direction. 

"  Generally,  perhaps,  the  brethren  surpassed  me 
in  activity  ;  but  one  winter,  1845-46, 1  worked  hard. 
I  had  many  long  and  lonely  rides.  My  meetings 
were  conducted  by  myself  alone,  preaching  from  a 
plan  written  out,  but  retained  in  my  memory.  I 
made  no  show  of  notes.  My  sermons  were  talks 
in  cabins,  in  the  court  house,  in  carpenter  shops, 
and  out  of  doors.  I  knew  but  little  of  prayer- 
meetings,  led  my  own  singing,  and  rode  on  horse- 
back the  first  two  years.  In  the  latter  part  of  the 
time,  I  preached  from  more  fully  written  notes. 
One  fall,  I  suffered  much,  and  was  laid  aside  by  the 
fever  and  ague. 

"  I  cannot  speak  of  special  outpourings  of  the 
Spirit ;  but  God  gave  me  the  privilege  of  laying 
foundations,  with  a  few  tokens  of  prospective 
growth.  I  have  some  remembrances  of  those 
youthful  days  which  are  vivid.  I  had  opportunities 
to  see  nature  in  its  primeval  beauty.  For  the  pen 


FRAGMENTS.  133 

of  an  Irving,  those  years  would  furnish  materials  of 
surpassing  interest.  Those  adventures  of  frontier 
life,  though  but  incidental  to  the  work  of  the  home- 
missionary,  will  long  remain  with  me,  while  other 
things,  perhaps  of  more  importance,  will  have 
slipped  from  the  memory." 

In  looking  over  this  experience,  we  can  only 
wish  that  our  brother  could  revisit  the  scenes  of 
his  former  labors,  to  see,  in  part  at  least,  the  fruits 
of  his  toil.  "  One  layeth  the  foundations,  and 
another  buildeth  thereon." 

As  showing  still  further  how  the  Home  Mis- 
sionary Society  reaches  out  beyond  the  region  of 
organized  churches,  and  as  reviewing  the  early 
history  of  Congregationalism  in  Western  Iowa, 
which  was  for  a  long  time  to  Eastern  Iowa  as  a 
foreign  field,  and  allowing  here,  because  it  cannot 
well  be  avoided,  the  full  names  of  persons  and 
places,  we  give  next  a  paper  presented  at  the  Quar- 
terly Centennial  of  the  Iowa  Association  in  1866, 
respecting  — 

THE    MISSOURI    SLOPE. 

"  Congregationalism  made  its  first  appearance  on 
the  slope  in  the  organization  of  the  Union  Church 
at  Civil  Bend  in  1849,  where,  without  any  recog- 
nized minister,  about  a  dozen  Christians  —  Bap- 
tists, Congregationalists,  and  Methodists  —  formed 
themselves  into  a  church,  adopted  their  creed  and 
covenant,  and  agreed  to  recognize  each  other  in 
church  relations,  and  co-operate  in  promoting  the 
12 


134  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

cause  of  Christ.  A  flourishing  day-school  was 
already  in  existence  in  the  neighborhood.  A  Sab- 
bath school,  Bible  class,  and  regular  prayer-meetings 
were  established,  and  attended  with  a  good  degree 
of  religious  interest,  before  any  minister  labored 
among  them. 

"  The  name  Civil  Bend  was  derisively  given  to 
this  settlement  along  the  Missouri  River  by  the 
roughs  who  so  frequently  held  high  carousal  at 
the  various  whiskey  cabins  that  fringed  the  '  Big 
Muddy.'  These  breathing-holes  of  the  infernal 
regions  were  known  by  such  euphonious  titles  as 
'  Devil's  Den,'  '  Hell's  Kitchen,'  etc.  ;  and,  to 
designate  the  temperance  neighborhood,  it  was 
called  '  Civil  Bend.'  The  residents  accepted  the 
name  ;  and  by  this  title  it  is  known  to  this  day, 
although  the  post-office  is  Gaston.  On  the  ist  of 
July,  1850,  the  Rev.  John  Todd,  with  his  family, 
joined  this  settlement  for  the  purpose  of  preach- 
ing Christ  on  the  frontiers.  A  dwelling  of  hewn 
logs  had  been  erected  and  roofed,  out  on  the  prai- 
ries, for  his  accommodation,  which,  on  his  arrival, 
was  perforated,  and  supplied  with  doors  and  win- 
dows, and  floored  with  cotton-wood  'puncheons.' 
The  window  and  door  casings  were  all  the  sawed  ma- 
terial used  in  constructing  the  house  ;  and  this  had 
to  be  brought  a  distance  of  twenty-five  miles.  The 
minister's  study-walls  were  curtains,  and  the  study 
table  a  puncheon  resting  on  two  wooden  pins 
driven  into  the  logs. 

"  A  few  families  of  Congregationalists  from  Illi- 


FRAGMENTS.  135 

nois,  who  had  started  for  California,  stopped  on  the 
banks  of  the  Missouri,  opposite  the  Big  Platte, 
twenty-five  miles  north  of  Civil  Bend,  in  the  fall 
of  1849,  and  formed  the  first  out-station,  which 
resulted  in  the  organization  of  a  small  church  of  ten 
members,  reported  as  the  Church  of  Florence,  sub- 
sequently disbanded.  Trader's  Point,  nine  or  ten 
miles  above  Florence,  about  the  same  distance  from 
Council  Bluffs,  and  nearly  east  of  where  Belleview 
in  Nebraska  now  is,  was  then  a  flourishing  village 
of  Mormons  and  traders,  of  about  thirty  or  thirty- 
five  houses,  where  many  crossed  the  river  on  their 
way  to  the  Great  Salt  Lake  Valley.  That,  also,  was 
made  a  monthly  preaching  place.  It  has  long 
since  been  all  swept  away  by  the  Missouri.  About 
eighteen  miles  above  Council  Bluffs,  near  the 
Boyer,  a  few  Gentiles  were  found,  who  wished  to 
hear  the  gospel,  and  there  was  another  preaching- 
point.  A  good  Christian  Baptist  lady,  residing  at 
Stutnan's  Mills,  on  the  West  Nishnibotna,  twenty- 
five  or  thirty  miles  east  of  Council  Bluffs,  signified 
a  wish  to  hear  Christ  preached  to  her  Mormon 
neighbors  ;  and  there  another  monthly  appointment 
was  made. 

"  Cutler's  Camp,  on  Silver  Creek  in  Mills  County, 
now  seven  miles  from  Glenwood,  formed  another 
point  in  the  monthly  circuit.  Linden,  too,  then 
county-seat  of  Atchkinson  County,  Mo.,  twenty- 
five  miles  south-east  of  Civil  Bend,  was  then  favored 
with  a  monthly  visit  on  the  Sabbath. 

"  Thus,  within  a  year  from  the  time  of  begin- 


136  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

ning,  from  Civil  Bend  to  the  banks  of  the  Boyer, 
and  round  about  unto  Missouri,  was  the  gospel 
preached.  There  were  seven  appointments  in  the 
circuit,  but  two  of  them  favored  with  even  a  log 
schoolhouse.  In  the  autumn  of  1850,  the  Rev.  J.  A. 
Reed,  a  sort  of  archbishop  in  the  discharge  of 
the  duties  of  his  office,  accompanied  by  the  Rev. 
J.  B.  Hitchcock,  made  a  descent  upon  the  slope  at 
Civil  Bend.  Right  glad  were  we  to  find  that  some- 
body cared  for  us,  and  that  we  were  not  hopelessly 
severed  from  the  Christian  world.  It  then  required 
a  full  month  to  exchange  letters  with  our  friends  in 
Eastern  Iowa.  Our  nearest  post-office  was  fifteen 
miles  distant.  That  same  autumn,  1850,  Brother 
Wm.  Simpson,  the  first  regular  itinerant  of  the  M. 
E.  Church  on  the  slope,  entered  upon  the  charge  of 
Council  Bluffs,  and  came  to  Civil  Bend,  claiming 
all  Methodists  as  his.  He  proved  a  devout,  genial, 
working  Christian.  With  his  co-operation,  the  first 
revival  was  enjoyed  during  the  second  winter  at 
Civil  Bend.  A  single  family  of  Africo-Americans, 
who  had  earned  and  paid  thousands  of  dollars  for 
their  freedom,  came  into  the  settlement,  and  were 
encouraged  to  attend  school ;  for  which,  some  who 
'  had  never  attended  school  with  niggers,'  nor  any- 
body else,  for  they  could  neither  read  nor  write, 
determining  that  their  children  should  not  be  so 
disgraced,  accidentally  or  by  design  burnt  down  the 
log  building  which  constituted  our  schoolhouse 
and  place  of  worship.  This  occurred  on  watch- 
night  of  1850  and  1851. 


FRAGMENTS.  137 

"In  June,  1851,  the  waters  of  the  rivers,  the 
waters  of  the  uplands,  and  the  waters  above  the 
firmament,  combined  to  drive  the  people  from  Civil 
Bend.  The  river  rose  threateningly  ;  the  heavens 
gave  forth  frequent  floods  ;  and  the  streams  from 
the  bluffs  swept  down  in  torrents,  bearing  away 
bridges,  fences,  and  all  before  them.  Five  miles  of 
water  spread  out  between  us  and  the  highlands- 
Sloughs  were  waded  to  go  to  meeting,  where  horses 
would  mire  down,  and  abundance  of  buffalo-fish 
were  speared  with  pitch-forks  amid  the  tall  grass. 
Mosquitoes  enough  to  dim  the  sun  and  moon 
chimed  in  to  sing  the  requiem  of  our  hopes  in  that 
land  of  promise. 

"  That  was  a  trying  time  to  the  itinerancy.  A 
surplus  of  water  and  scarcity  of  bridges  necessi- 
tated a  curtailment  of  the  circuit.  Florence  and 
Trader's  Point  continued  to  be  visited  monthly  ; 
but  fighting  mosquitoes  by  night,  and  travelling  on 
horseback  by  day,  with  regular  ague  shakes  for 
variety,  were  not  very  well  adapted  to  make  a  Boa- 
nerges of  our  itinerant.  But  no  human  lives  were 
lost ;  and,  as  already  intimated,  we  had  our  first 
revival  the  following  winter. 

"In  the  fall  of  1851,  Brother  G.  G.  Rice,  from 
Union  Theological  Seminary,  I  think,  arrived  at 
Council  Bluffs,  under  the  patronage  of  the  A.  H. 
M.  S.,  and  entered  upon  the  work  of  preaching  the 
gospel.  After  the  experience  of  1851,  on  the  Mis- 
souri Bottom,  several  families  resolved  to  take 
higher  ground,  believing  that  it  afforded  a  firmer 
12* 


138  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

basis  for  the  object,  which,  from  the  first,  they  had 
in  view  ;  viz.,  the  establishment  of  an  institution  of 
learning,  in  connection  with  the  promotion  of  reli- 
gion. They,  after  considerable  search,  located  on 
Tabor.  Three  families  moved  there',  or  to  that 
vicinity,  in  1852,  purchased  claims,  lived  in  log- 
cabins,  at  once  began  a  regular  prayer-meeting, 
Sunday  school,  and  regular  preaching,  which  have 
continued  without  intermission  up  to  the  present 
time.  In  October,  1852,  the  Congregational  Church 
of  Tabor  was  formed,  with  eight  members.  This 
was  the  first  church  on  the  slope  which  assumed 
the  Congregational  name." 

This  church  at  Tabor,  it  should  be  remarked, 
is  now  the  largest  but  one  in  the  State.  The  In- 
stitution alluded  to  is  now  known  as  Tabor  Col- 
lege. It  has,  according  to  the  latest  published 
statement,  a  President  and  four  other  instructors  ; 
twenty-one  students  in  the  college  classes,  and 
one  hundred  and  four  in  the  preparatory  depart- 
ment ;  with  property  estimated  at  fifty  thousand 
dollars,  and  a  library  of  twelve  hundred  volumes. 

In  such  fields  as  just  described,  indeed,  in  all 
new  countries  liable  to  excessive  rains,  with  few 
roads  and  fewer  bridges,  the  missionary  needs  the 
pleasant  faculty  of  making  the  best  of  things,  as 
one  prime  qualification  for  his  work.  Many  a  one 
has  had  an  experience  similar  to  that  related  be- 
low, though  not  always  as  happily  borne. 


FRAGMENTS.  139 

GOING   TO   ASSOCIATION. 

"  Last  fall,  at  the  meeting  of  this  Association  at 
S.,  Brother  C.  proposed  for  our  spring  meeting  to 
convene  at  C.  Brother  T.  knew  nothing  of  C.,  except 
that  it  was  the  home  of  our  esteemed  Brother  A., 
and  that  it  was  situated  somewhere  '  within  the 
bounds '  of  F.  County.  But  Brother  T.  was  expect- 
ed to  be  there  ;  and  he  very  naturally  expected  to 
see  his  brethren  there  also.  The  meeting  was  to 
be  held  on  the  third  Tuesday  in  M.,  at  eventide  ; 
and  of  this  fact  all  the  brethren  were  warned  in 
due  time. 

"  On  the  Monday  previous  to  this  said  Tuesday, 
Brother  T.  would  needs  set  forth  in  the  ecclesias- 
tical buggy,  propelled  by  the  ancient  horse  Billy. 
He  first  made  diligent  inquiries,  however,  as  to  the 
location  of  the  said  town  of  C. ;  but  all  men 
wagged  their  heads,  and  could  do  no  more.  They 
knew  nothing  of  any  such  city.  The  maps  were 
equally  silent ;  and  there  was  no  time  for  corre- 
spondence, seeing  that  the  mail  from  Brother  T.'s 
house  to  F.  County  describeth  the  circle  of  the 
greater  ram's-horn,  and  never  returneth.  Brother 
T.  was  in  a  great  quandary,  and  knew  not  whether 
to  proceed  to  the  south-west,  the  west,  or  the 
north-west.  Yet  Brother  T.  was  expected  to  be 
there.  So,  after  much  dubitation,  he  concluded  to 
follow  the  wisdom  of  the  prairie-hawk  ;  and,  as  the 
game  was  not  in  sight,  to  beat  about  for  it.  Pie 
started  southward  and  westward,  driving  towards  C., 


I4O  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

which  lieth  upon  the  S.,  and  is  a  town  fair  to  see. 
Here  he  found  a  certain  Gaius,  a  miller  of  much 
substance,  whose  daughter  is  a  miller  also.  Here 
he  tarried  ;  and  in  the  evening  they  all  sang  hymns, 
and  rejoiced  abundantly.  In  the  morning,  mine 
host,  and  of  the  whole  church,  would  go  with 
Brother  T.  to  question  certain  men  of  his  town  ; 
and,  behold,  a  man  was  found  who  had  heard  of  C., 
and  knew  where  it  was,  but  had  never  been  there. 
Also  he  heard  that  the  river  must  be  forded  at  this 
place,  and  that  it  would  be  nearer  swimming  than 
fording. 

"  So,  a  good  while  before  he  came  to  the  river, 
he  bade  farewell  to  his  host,  who  bade  him  good- 
speed,  and  said,  '  See  thou  art  riot  drowned  in 
the  river  ! '  And,  after  a  while,  he  came  to  the 
river.  Now,  there  was  a  mighty  bridge  there, 
and  it  was  like  secession  :  for  it  was  easy  to  get 
upon  it,  and  it  carried  one  fairly  for  a  time  ;  but  at 
the  end  of  it  was  a  grievous  jump,  and  there  was 
nothing  but  sharp  rocks  and  a  quagmire  at  the 
bottom.  Over  this  bridge  Brother  T.  carried  all 
the  contents  of  the  ecclesiastical  buggy.  After 
these  were  deposited  on  the  other  side,  he  returned 
and  said  to  the  ancient  steed,  '  Billy,  there  is  noth- 
ing for  it  but  we  must  take  to  the  stream.' 

"  So  they  addressed  themselves  to  enter  the  river. 
And,  at  the  very  first,  the  wav,es  flowed  into  the 
buggy,  which  caused  Brother  T.  to  raise  his  feet ; 
and  presently  the  waters  reached  the  seat,  which 
caused  the  rider  thereupon  to  go  up  higher  ;  and 


FRAGMENTS.  14! 

he  sat  on  the  topmost  rail  of  the  seat.  And  the 
waters  prevailed  even  to  the  arm  of  the  seat ;  and 
Brother  T.  saw  the  coat-tails  of  'divinity/  that 
they  streamed  out  behind  upon  the  waters  of  the 
river ;  and  he  -was  a  spectacle  to  certain  men 
which  stood  by  :  after  which  the  waters  abated,  and 
presently  they  came  forth  again  upon  the  dry  land. 

"  After  this,  divers  other  streams  were  crossed, 
and  much  desolate  green  prairie  ;  and  at  evening, 
when  the  stars  shone,  behold,  th  ;y  were  at  the 
place  C. 

"  Now,  because  Brother  T.  was  the  only  minister 
that  had  arrived,  he  must  needs  preach  to  the  peo- 
ple ;  and,  when  the  meeting  was  done,  the  two  dele- 
gates —  Brother  B.  of  P.  and  Brother  A.  of  M.  — 
essayed  to  have  the  Association  organized  ;  but, 
when  they  looked  upon  the  record,  they  found 
there  was  not  a  quorum  present.  So  they  went  to 
lodge  with  the  people.  And  the  next  day,  Brother 
T.  told  them  what  was  known  to  him  of  the  condi- 
tion of  the  churches. 

"  Now,  at  the  former  meeting,  the  brethren  had 
appointed  Brother  T.  to  read  an  essay  on  the  anni- 
hilation of  the  wicked  ;  so,  in  the  evening,  it  was 
read,  albeit  the  wicked  did  not  come  to  hear  it. 

"  And  after  this,  the  hope  of  seeing  our  brethren 
vanished,  and  we  came  together  no  more.  And  if 
those  brethren  who  came  not  had  but  known  how 
the  people  waited  for  them,  and  how  they  climbed 
the  steeple,  and  how  the  green  sea  that  surrounds 
the  place  was  swept  often  with  a  spy-glass  in  ex- 


I42  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

pectation  of  their  approach,  they  would  have  taken 
care  not  to  have  caused  such  a  disappointment 

"  And,  besides  this,  it  was  a  shame  to  Brother  T. 
that  it  was  confidently  asserted  many  times  that 
the  brethren  were  coming,  when,  behold,  the  things 
that  were  seen  were  only  a  green  bush,  a  stray 
sheep,  some  calves,  certain  horses,  and  mayhap  a 
few  mules  !  These  things  ought  not  to  be  ranked 
with  delinquent  ministers  at  such  times. 

"  So,  when  all  was  done,  Brother  T.  wrote  it  upon 
the  book,  that  —  • 

"  '  I.  Nobody  but  Brother  T.  and  two  delegates 
can  testify  to  having  been  at  C.  on  the  twentieth 
day  of  M.,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  186-. 

" '  II.  That,  in  consequence,  nothing  was  done, 
except  that  Brother  T.  had  a  good  visit. 

" '  III.  That  the  Association  is  expected  to  meet 
next  fall  at  D. 

"  '  IV.  That  Brother  T.  is  expected  to  be  there.'  " 

Allusion  has  once  or  twice  been  made  to 
Abner  Kneeland  and  his  followers,  who  settled 
upon  the  Des  Moines  River,  near  Farmington,  at  a 
place  called  Salubria.  The  writer  remembers  well 
a  visit  paid  to  the  old  infidel,  nearly  twenty-five 
years  ago.  He  was  of  noble  form,  venerable  in 
appearance,  and  treated  his  visitor  courteously. 
On  frankly  telling  him  that  I  had  come  to  see  him 
simply  out  of  curiosity,  "  Yes,"  he  replied  pleasantly : 
"  I  suppose  I  am  about  as  much  of  a  show  as  an 
elephant ;"  and  then  expressed  his  readiness  to  con- 


FRAGMENTS.  143 

verse  on  any  topic  or  answer  any  questions  I  might 
choose.  In  private  'intercourse,  his  infidelity  and 
atheism  were  of  the  boldest  kind,  and  his  public 
lectures  gross.  In  derision  of  the  marriage  insti- 
tution, he  used  to  say,  "Tie  the  tails  of  two  dogs 
together,  and  they  will  fight.  Allow  them  to  go 
free,  and  they  will  be  good  friends."  He  and  his 
followers  were  quite  zealous  and  successful  at  first, 
in  sowing  the  seeds  of  their  infidelity  among  the 
new  settlers  by  pamphlets,  periodicals,  public  lec- 
tures, etc.  Ridicule  of  "priests,"  making  sport, 
sometimes  mock  of  sacred  things,  entered  largely 
into  all  their  efforts.  But  a  view  of  the  positions 
they  assumed,  and  the  manner  in  which  they  tried 
to  defend  them,  can  best  be  seen  in  the  following 
account  given  by  one  whose  first  ministry  was  in 
the  midst  of  them,  —  the  Rev.  Harvey  Adams  :  — 

THE    INFIDEL    CELEBRATION. 

"  Early  one  afternoon  in  the  month  of  August, 
1847,  a  colporter  of  the  American  Tract  Society 
called  at  our  house,  and  told  me  there  was  to  be  a 
great  celebration  in  the  Kneeland  neighborhood  ; 
and,  as  he  desired  to  see  what  they  would  say  and  do, 
he  said  he  should  attend,  and  wished  me  to  accom- 
pany him.  As  the  distance  was  short,  —  it  being 
only  a  mile  to  the  place,  —  with  staff  in  hand  we 
were  soon  there.  The  gathering  was  in  a  charming 
grove  on  the  east  bank  of  the  beautiful  Des  Moines. 
The  object  of  the  gathering  was  to  celebrate  the 


144  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

anniversary  of  Mr.  Kneeland's  liberation  from  prison 
in  Boston,  to  which  place  he  had  been  sentenced 
for  blasphemy.  There  were  present,  of  both  sexes 
and  .of  all  ages,  about  a  hundred  and  fifty.  So 
they  claimed.  Yet  probably  not  more  than  half  of 
these  were  very  sceptical  in  their  views  :  they 
came  simply  as  spectators.  A  platform  was  erected 
for  the  speakers,  and  seats  were  prepared  for  the- 
ladies.  The  men  stood  round  about  in  a  circle. 
When  we  arrived,  the  speaking  had  commenced. 
On  our  joining  the  company,  the  snap  of  the  eye, 
the  sly  glances,  and  the  jogging  of  one  another, 
seemed  to  say,  '  There's  a  priest  among  us  :  he'll 
have  a  good  time ! ' 

"  The  speeches  were  spiced  with  such  condiments 
as  these  :  — 

"  '  We  are  not  indebted  to  Christianity  for  the  first 
practical  good.  What  has  it  done  ?  Look  at  Spain  ! 
Look  at  Mexico !  In  early  days,  Mexico  was  a  par- 
adise. Her  people  were  among  the  most  virtuous 
and  happy.  But  ever  since  Columbus,  the  Chris- 
tian missionary,  came  over  and  converted  them  to 
Christianity,  they  have  been  miserably  degraded 
and  wretched.  We  glory  in  infidelity.  We  wear 
it  as  the  cloak  for  our  virtues,  just  as  the  Christians 
wear  Christianity  as  the  cloak  for  their  vices.' 
Cries  of,  '  Yes,  yes  !  that's  so ! '  came  from  the 
crowd  ;  and  one,  who  evidently  spoke  for  my  special 
benefit,  said,  '  There  was  St,  Gregory,  who  was 
covered  with  sin  six  feet  deep.' 

"  At  the  close  of  the  speeches,  a  pressing  invita- 


FRAGMENTS.  145 

tion  was  given  the  writer  to  'take  the  stand.' 
This  was  declined,  with  the  remark  that  I  came 
merely  as  a  spectator  ;  and  that,  if  I  spoke,  I  could 
not  expect  to  change  their  views.  'He  dare  not 
speak  without  a  pulpit  before  him.  'Twon't  do, 
where  there  can  be  a  reply,'  said  an  old  man. 

"  As  advantage  would  be  taken  of  my  silence,  the 
instant  resolve  was  formed  to  say  something  if 
there  should  be  a  favorable  opportunity.  Nor  was 
there  need  of  waiting  long. 

"The  ladies  withdrew  to  prepare  the  dinner,  while 
the  men  all  closed  up  thick  around  '  the  priest,'  — 
this  being  the  term  by  which  they  always  designate 
'a  Christian  minister. 

"  The  two  champions  of  the  day  were  large,  gray- 
headed  men,  who  literally  '  stooped  for  age.'  One 
of  them  was  an  apostate  from  a  Baptist  church  in 
Vermont,  and  the  other  from  a  Presbyterian  church 
in  Pennsylvania.  They  placed  themselves  directly 
before  me,  and  stood  leaning  forward  on  their 
staves.  I  was  seated.  Compared  with  myself,  they 
were  almost  giants. 

"  In  giving  the  sequel,  for  convenience  I  will  call 
one  of  them  Dr.,  as  he  was  a  physician  ;  call  the 
other  McB. ;  and  '  the  priest '  H.  M.,  for  Home  Mis- 
sionary. The  doctor  was  sour  in  look,  and  crabbed 
and  bitter  in  speech.  McB.  was  more  courteous, 
but  oily  and  sarcastic.  No  sooner  had  they  placed 
themselves  thus  before  me,  than  they  commenced 
catechising,  thus  :  — 

"  McB.  —  As  I  take  you  to  be  a  philosopher  and 

13 


146  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

a  theologian,  I  should  like  to  ask  a  few  questions, 
if  you  have  no  objection. 

"  H.  M.  —  Certainly.  Perhaps  I  shall  not  be  able 
to  give  you  satisfactory  answers  ;  but,  if  you  ask 
civil  questions,  I  am  bound  to  give  civil  replies,  as 
far  as  I  am  able. 

"  McB.  (very  smoothly).  —  Well,  just  for  the 
purpose  of  information,  will  you  please  to  tell  us 
how  large  the  Holy  Ghost  is  ? 

"  The  point  of  this  was,  that  they  were  material- 
ists, and  did  not  believe  in  any  such  thing  as  spirit  ; 
and,  therefore,  if  I,  'a  philosopher  and  theologian,' 
could  not  tell  how  large  the  Holy  Ghost  was,  of 
course  I  must  be  the  next  passenger  bound  for  Salt 
River. 

"  H.  M.  —  That  is  rather  a  tough  question,  Mr. 
McB. :  but  when  you  are  attacked  with  something 
like  the  bilious  colic,  and  distressed  almost  to  death, 
and  feel  as  though  another  gripe  or  two  would  take 
your  life,  how  large  is  the  pain  ? 

"  At  this  there  was  a  general  laugh,  and  the  ques- 
tion was  dropped  as  quickly  as  though  it  had  gone 
to  oblivion. 

"  McB.  —  Man  does  what  he  does  under  the  in- 
fluence of  circumstances  over  which  he  has  no  con- 
trol. He  is  not  responsible  for  his  actions,  because 
he  cannot  help  them. 

"  H.  M.  —  And  so  you  came  all  the  way  to  this 
celebration  by  means  of  circumstances  which  you 
could  not  control  ?  And  all  the  rest  have  done  the 
same  thing  ? 


FRAGMENTS.  147 

"  McB.  —  Certainly.  Show  me  a  thing  that  is 
not  the  fruit  of  circumstances. 

"  H.  M.  —  Then  the  priests  do  what  they  do  to 
destroy  infidelity  and  atheism  through  circum- 
stances they  cannot  control.  But  how  comes  it  to 
pass  that  you  consider  them  so  criminal  for  what 
they  do  ?  Why  do  you  speak  of  them  as  the  ene- 
mies of  the  race,  as  you  have  done  to-day  ?  Why 
not  rather  commend  their  efforts  ?  More  especially, 
why  do  you  not  celebrate  the  day  of  Mr.  Kneeland's 
sentence  and  imprisonment  ?  The  Bostonians  did 
what  they  did  under  circumstances  they  could  not 
control.  [A  good  deal  of  laughing.] 

"  McB.  —  But  it  is  the  circumstances.  Men  can- 
not control  the  circumstances  of  one  of  their 
actions. 

"  H.  M.  —  Then  if  I  take  my  cane,  and  give  you 
a  sound  drubbing  over  the  head,  I  may  sing  all  the 
way  home  to-night  ?  And  you  will  charge  it  all  to 
the  circumstances  ?  You  will  not  consider  me  at 
fault  ? 

"  McB.  —  Yes.  I'll  punish  the  circumstances  :  I 
won't  punish  you.  [A  loud  laugh.] 

"  H.  M.  —  That's  very  generous  ;  but  do  you  act 
on  that  principle  ?  Suppose  some  one  against 
whom  you  hold  a  note  should  come  to  you  and  say, 
'  I  know,  that,  as  men  use  language,  I  owe  you  ;  but 
I  never  intend  to  pay.  I  would  not,  if  I  could  as 
well  as  not.  Circumstances  do  not  compel  me  to 
pay,  and  I  shall  not  do  it.'  Would  you  not  treat 
him  to  a  constable  ?  [Cries  of  '  Good  !  good  ! '] 


14°  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

"  McB. — All  this  hair-splitting  about  would 
and  would  not,  right  and  wrong,  good  and  evil, 
guilt  and  innocence,  is  a  humbug.  These  terms 
all  amount  to  the  same  thing.  There  is  no  such 
thing  as  right  and  wrong. 

"  H.  M.  —  I  knew  that  would  follow  from  your 
doctrine,  though  I  did  not  know  that  you  would  so 
openly  avow  it.  But  will  you  tell  us  why  you  em- 
ploy these  terms  so  freely  yourselves  ?  and  more 
especially  when  you  speak  of  the  priests  ?  [Cries 
of  '  Good  ! '  with  laughter.]  And  then,  too,  most 
certainly,  if  I  give  you  a  real  drubbing  with  my 
cane,  you  cannot  say  that  I  do  any  harm  or  wrong  ; 
for  there  is  no  such  thing.  Not  one  of  the  priests 
has  ever  done  any.  Now,  to  try  your  principle, 
suppose  I  take  my  cane,  and  make  a  serious  experi- 
ment on  your  head  ? 

"  McB.  (very  emphatically).  —  I  don't  like  —  that 
illustration  about  the  cane.  [A  roar  of  laughter.] 
The  amount  of  it  is,  when  we  speak  of  doing,  or 
when  we  speak  of  right  and  wrong,  or  of  the  mind, 
soul,  spirit,  and  the  like,  we  use  words  without 
meaning.  There  is  no  such  thing.  That  which 
is  not  material  is  nothing. 

"  //.  M.  —  Doctor,  you  and  I  have  had  a  little 
conversation  on  this  point  before  ;  but  as  we  did 
not  get  through,  and  it  is  now  up  again,  I  should 
like- 

"  Dr.  (very  sourly).  —  None  of  your  gospel 
pettifogging.  I  know  you  have  your  visions  and 
dreams,  and  soul  and  spirit,  and  Holy  Ghost  and 


FRAGMENTS.  149 

all  that,  in  your  Bible  ;  but  —  [Cries  from  the 
crowd,' '  Doctor,  let  him  go  on  ;  let  him  go  on  ! '] 

"  H.  M.  —  You  may  call  it  pettifogging,  or  what 
you  please,  doctor  :  I  will  try  to  talk  common  sense, 
but  am  ready  to  leave  it  to  the  company  whether 
I  do  or  not.  If  I  understand  you,  Mr.  McB.,  you 
say  that  that  which  is  not  material  is  nothing. 

"  McB.  —  Yes.  That's  it.  Immateriality  is  an 
absurdity. 

"  H.  M,  —  You  will  admit  this  general  law  of 
nature,  that  '  like  produces  like,'  I  suppose. 

"  McB.  —  Oh,  yes  !     No  one  can  dispute  that. 

"  H.  M.  —  So  that  all  thoughts,  all  the  products 
of  the  mind,  whatever  we  call  them,  are  really 
matter. 

"  McB.  —  Most  Certainly. 

"  H.  M.  —  And  have  the  attributes  of  matter  ; 
that  is  to  say,  the  mind,  the  soul,  and  all  thoughts, 
have  length,  breadth,  thickness,  weight,  and  the 
like. 

"  McB.  —  Certainly.  It  is  absurd  to  talk  of  a 
thing  which  is  not  material. 

"  H.  M.  —  Very  well.  When  we  communicate 
thoughts,  we  communicate  matter,  we  communicate 
shape,  size,  and  weight.  That  is  understood.  Now 
then,  if  you  two  old  men  continue  to  talk  to  me,  and 
I  receive  your  thoughts  without  making  any  reply, 
you  will  reduce  yourselves  to  skeletons  ;  and  I, 
though  small,  bid  fair  to  become  a  pretty  corpulent 
man.  [The  woods  rang  with  laughter.] 

"  The  call  to  dinner  now  came,  and  my  two  infi- 

13* 


I5O  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

del  friends  seemed  to  be  very  glad  of  it.  But  they 
had  become  very  good-natured.  I  was  invited  to 
partake  with  them,  and  was  conducted  to  the  head 
of  the  table.  When  seated,  and  while  the  waiters 
were  serving,  the  doctor  asked  me  if  I  could  par- 
take without  '  grace.'  The  reply  was,  that,  if  they 
did  not  desire  that  I  should  publicly  invoke  a  bless- 
ing, I  was  not  limited  to  that  method  of  doing  it. 
Soon  after  this,  the  doctor  said  to  those  near  him, 
but  for  my  benefit,  '  He  eats  with  publicans  and 
sinners.'  To  this  I  could  not  help  replying, 
'  Thank  you,  doctor.  Happy  to  see  you  recog- 
nize the  distinction.' 

"  Dinner  being  over,  and  the  furniture  removed, 
the  tables  were  arranged  in  a  row,  and  seats  placed 
upon  and  in  front  of  them  for*  the  ladies  ;  while 
the  gentlemen  were  formed  into  a  semi-circle, 
facing  the  ladies.  The  toast-master  conducted  the 
'priest'  to  the  centre  of  the  half-circle,  and  a  little 
in  advance  of  it,  where  every  one  could  see  him. 
And  now  for  the  toasts  and  sentiments.  One  was 
read,  and  cheers  called  for.  But  the  crowd  were 
silent,  as  if  at  a  funeral.  Another,  and  a  third  ; 
but  with  no  response.  After  what  had  passed,  the 
company  did  not  feel  like  giving  cheers  to  such 
sentiments.  Volunteers  were  called  for.  One 
man  gave  out  a  sentiment,  and  lifted  up  his  arms, 
and  exclaimed,  '  Hoo — ra!'  but  his  was  the  only 
voice.  Among  the  volunteer  sentiments,  this  was 
one  :  '  Eighteen  hundred  and  fourteen  years  ago, 
Jesus  Christ  was  imprisoned  for  blasphemy ;  and 


FRAGMENTS.  15 1 

years  ago,  Abner  Kneeland  was  imprisoned 

in  Boston  for  the  same  crime  :  the  latter  a  philoso- 
pher, the  former  a  juggler.' 

"  The  design  of  their  toasts  and  sentiments,  as 
well  as  of  all  the  previous  speeches,  seemed  to  be, 
to  deliver  themselves  of  the  gall  and  spleen  they 
had  treasured  up  against  priests,  priestcraft,  and 
Christianity  in  general.  They  probably  also  in- 
tended to  confirm  such  as  might  be  doubtful.  But 
the  celebration  had  a  very  different  result.  The 
crowd  evidently  left  with  the  conviction,  that,  what- 
ever might  be  said  against  Christianity,  certainly 
infidelity  had  not  many  attractions. 

"  I  am  not  aware  that  any  of  that  gathering  have 
since  been  active  in  propagating  it.  From  that 
time  to  this,  there  has  not  been  another  celebra- 
tion of  the  kind,  that  I  have  heard  of.  They  have 
not  met,  as  before,  to  hear  infidel  lectures  on  the 
Sabbath.  The  one  whom  I  have  called  McB. 
renounced  his  infidelity  subsequently  ;  and  it  is  re- 
ported that  he  died  with  the  hope  of  the  Christian. 
Since  that  time,  also,  I  have  attended  many  fune- 
rals among  those  families  ;  and,  in  one  case,  when 
three  young  persons,  belonging  to  three  different 
families,  were  buried  at  the  same  time.  They  had 
been  drowned.  Many  have  been  the  acts  of  cour- 
tesy and  kindness  shown  to  the  writer  by  individ- 
uals who  were  previously  of  that  belief. 

"  In  the  retrospect,  I  am  satisfied  that  all  the  lec- 
tures I  ever  gave  on  the  evidences  of  Christianity 
accomplished  little  for  the  purpose,  compared  with 


152 


THE    IOWA    BAND. 


the  conversation  here  detailed.  This  was  not 
sought  or  coveted.  There  was  clearly  a  providence 
in  it  all.  It  was  one  of  a  number  of  occurrences 
which  have  been  overruled  to  destroy  infidelity  in 
that  region.  To  God  be  all  the  honor." 

But  these  sketches  have  been  sufficiently  ex- 
tended. They  illustrate  a  few  of  the  varied  phases 
of  missionary  life.  We  might  add  more,  which 
would  bring  out  scenes  in  the  home-circle  some- 
times partaking  of  the  sad,  in  hours  of  affliction, 
in  remote  settlements,  away  from  friends,  where 
husbands  have  preached  the  funeral  sermons  of 
wives,  a  father  of  children  ;  but  we  forbear.  As  to 
that  infidel  colony,  its  hopes  are  blasted.  The 
leaders  being  bold,  but  blasphemous,  their  efforts 
for  political  ascendancy  in  the  country,  and  to  set 
at  nought  sacred  things  by  mock  funerals,  and  in 
other  ways,  soon  overreached  themselves.  The 
people  became  disgusted  as  they  saw  the  tendency 
and  the  aim.  A  strange  series  of  deaths,  too, 
among  them,  had  its  effect.  Better  things  came 
in  ;  and  Kneelandism,  as  an  organization,  is  a  thing 
of  the  past. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

LOSS  AND   GAIN. 

HOW  often,  when  for  duty's  sake,  for  the  sake 
of  Christian  service  to  be  rendered,  we  enter 
upon  some  path,  expecting  and  consenting  to  the  loss 
of  many  things,  we  find,  that,  of  all  others,  that  was 
the  very  path  to  be  chosen  for  real  gain  !  "  He  that  - 
loseth  his  life  for  my  sake  shall  find  it."  Solomon 
chose  wisdom,  and  God  gave  him  both  wisdom  and 
riches.  Twenty-five  years  ago,  every  one  thought  it 
a  great  sacrifice  for  a  minister  to  go  West :  no  one 
would  go  except  at  the  stern  call  of  duty.  As  be- 
tween an  Eastern  and  a  Western  settlement,  the  ad- 
vantages then  seemed  to  be  entirely  with  the  former. 
Well  is  it  remembered,  how  then  a  rhetorical  pro- 
duction by  one  whose  face  was  turned  westward, 
under  the  title  of  "  Inducements  to  go  West,"  was 
received  by  us  at  the  Seminary.  It  was  with  a  sort 
of  smile,  as  much  as  to  say,  "  Well,  it  is  a  happy 
faculty  to  look  at  the  bright  side  of  things  ;  and,  if 
one  is  going,  he  may  as  well  make  the  best  of  it." 
Little  was  it  then  thought,  that  what  appeared 
fancy  was  but  half  the  sober  truth  !  Let  it  not  be 
supposed  that  a  Western  life  has  been,  or  is,  all 
gain  and  no  loss  ;  but,  looking  over  the  past,  let  us 


154  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

strike  a  balance  in  this  regard,  and  see  where  it 
stands. 

Twenty-five  years  ago,  one  of  the  first  things 
thought  of  by  one  contemplating  the  Western  work 
was  health.  It  was  supposed  he  must  have  the 
fever  and  ague,  probably  a  bilious  fever  ;  and,  at 
any  rate,  must  go  through  a  process  of  acclimation, 
the  issue  of  which  must  determine  whether  he 
could  stay  in  the  country  or  not.  We  smile  now 
at  the  way  we  used  to  think  of  this.  Some  of  us, 
indeed,  have  had  the  fever  and  ague,  and  some  have 
not.  There  have  been  some  deaths  ;  and  from  some 
families  children  have  been  taken,  one  after  the 
other,  till  the  record  has  become  a  sad,  sad  one. 
But  so,  doubtless,  it  would  have  been  elsewhere. 
Taking  the  Band  for  a  sample,  it  surely  cannot  be 
said,  that,  in  the  matter  of  health,  there  has  been 
loss  :  we  should  say,  probably  gain.  It  is  doubt- 
ful whether  the  same  number  of  their  classmates 
who  chose  an  Eastern  settlement  have  been  more 
highly  favored  than  they.  In  the  case  of  no  one  is 
it  certain  that  his  health  was  injured  by  coming 
West ;  while  in  others  it  has  been  improved,  and 
life,  doubtless,  has  been  prolonged.  One  of  them  at 
least,  perhaps  more,  can  say,  that,  for  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  century,  he  has  never  lost  a  single 
appointment  from  ill  health,  nor  more  than  a  dozen 
from  any  cause. 

Next  to  the  matter  of  health,  it  is  natural  to 
consider  that  of  support  and  home-comforts.  This, 
perhaps,  does  not  at  first  enter  much  into  the  cal- 


LOSS    AND    GAIN.  155 

dilations  of  those  proposing  to  labor  in  the  minis- 
try at  the  East  or  West ;  but  it  comes  up  sooner  or 
later,  and  may  be  properly  considered.  Four  hun- 
dred dollars  a  year,  twenty-five  years  ago,  was 
about  the  highest  limit  of  missionary  salary.  That 
sum  now  seems  small  indeed.  It  did  then.  But 
with  beef  and  pork  at  two  or  three  cents  a  pound, 
corn  twelve  and  a  half  cents  a  bushel,  and  other 
products  of  a  fertile  soil  in  proportion,  it  is  easy  to 
see  that  a  little  money  would  go  a  great  way.  True, 
clothing,  furniture,  books,  etc.,  were  higher  than  at 
the  East,  and  expenses  in  this  direction  had  to  be 
curtailed.  Missionary  families,  like'  all  other  fami- 
lies in  a  new  country,  had  to  dispense  with  a  great 
many  things  considered  indispensable  in  an  Eastern 
home.  But  they  managed  to  get  along  somehow. 
Gifts  came  in  sometimes  from  the  people.  Mis- 
sionary boxes  met  many  an  exigency.  Occasionally 
some  books  or  other  remembrances  came  from 
Eastern  friends. 

As  living  expenses  have  increased,  missionary 
grants  have  grown  larger.  Sometimes  the  home- 
missionary,  driven  to  buy  a  little  place,  because  too 
poor  to  rent  one,  or  wishing  to  get  a  little  foothold 
for  a  home,  has  found  himself,  by  the  rise  of  prices 
in  a  thrifty  village,  actually  gaining  in  property. 
Meantime,  the  churches  have,  many  of  them,  be- 
come able  to  give  more  ample  support.  Taking  it 
all  in  all,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  it  is  presumed  that 
those  longest  in  the  field  have  no  cause  of  com- 
plaint. Perhaps,  in  the  end,  they  are  just  as  well 


156  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

off,  and,  on  the  whole,  have  been  as  comfortably 
provided  for,  so  far  as  the  real  necessaries  of  life 
are  concerned,  as  if  they  had  been  in  Eastern  set- 
tlements. They  have  had  to  dispense  with  many 
things,  at  times,  that  they  might  have  had  else- 
where :  and,  perhaps,  were  their  wives  called  upon 
to  testify  at  this  point,  they  might  say  at  once  that 
the  advantage  was  with  the  Eastern  settlement ;  not 
•because  they  are  quicker  to  complain  than  their 
husbands,  but  because,  as  before  stated,  the  priva- 
tions of  a  new  country  fall  most  heavily  within 
their  peculiar  province.  Still,  claiming  a  little  ad- 
vantage for  the  West  on  the  score  of  health,  we  are 
willing  to  let  that  and  this  balance. 

Next,  let  us  look  at  mental  development.  A 
man's  surroundings  will,  of  course,  have  an  influ- 
ence upon  his  mental  habits  and  intellectual  cul- 
ture. The  time  was,  when  the  advantages  in  this 
respect  seemed  nearly  all  with  the  Eastern  field. 
As  to  many  things  they  were.  "  Early  introduc- 
tion," says  a  distinguished  writer,  "  to  active  labor 
in  an  extended  field,  partaking  of  a  missionary  and 
itinerant  character,  may,  amidst  much  usefulness, 
spoil  a  man  for  life  in  all  that  regards  progress  of 
erudition,  and  productiveness  of  the  reasoning 
powers."  True,  in  the  old  and  narrow  field  there 
may  be  the  more  quiet  study,  more  help  from  books 
and  literary  intercourse,  more  time  to  elaborate 
and  polish.  There  may  be,  moreover,  among  the 
hearers  a  more  rigid  demand  for  this  sort  of  excel- 
lence in  sermonizing,  creating  in  the  preacher  an 


LOSS    AND    GAIN.  157 

ambition  to  produce  it.  But,  possibly,  right  here 
in  the  strong  point  of  many  a  preacher  is  his  very 
weakness.  His  hearers  demand,  and  his  life  is 
worn  out  in  supplying,  what,  while  admired,  fails 
to  bless.  But  we  are  to  compare,  not  criticise. 

The  Western  man,  on  the  frontier  work,  as  was 
that  of  all  Iowa  once,  suffers  right  here  some  loss. 
Here  are  felt  some  of  his  greatest  privations,  and 
some  of  his  greatest  self-denials  are  practised.  His 
trial  is  not  that  he  has  to  wear  a  seedy  coat,  as  good 
perhaps  as  his  brother  Christians  about  him  wear ; 
nor  that,  in  his  travels  of  a  wet  season,  he  occa- 
sionally gets  "sloughed,"  or  has  to  swim  the  stream. 
This  is  just  what  his  neighbors  do,  and  is  nothing 
in  a  new  country.  But,  if  he  takes  a  paper,  he 
reads  of  books  which  he  can  never  see.  He  thinks 
of  ministers'  meetings,  and  the  culture  of  literary 
fellowships  among  his  brother-ministers,  which  he 
can  never  enjoy.  Exchanges,  even,  are  out  of  the 
question.  His  duties  call  him  much  abroad  out  of 
his  study,  if  he  has  one  ;  and,  when  in  it,  he  groans 
in  spirit  sometimes,  that  it  is  so  poorly  furnished 
with  the  needful  helps.  But  this  Western  field  has 
its  advantages,  too,  even  in  the  matter  of  intellect- 
ual development.  The  impression  twenty  years  ago 
is  not  quite  right,  —  that,  if  a  man  goes  to  a  West- 
ern missionary  field,  he  must  once  for  all  abandon 
all  thoughts  of  mental  culture  and  growth.  Men 
are  to  be  studied,  as  well  as  books ;  and  the  contrast 
of  mind  with  mind  is  a  vigorous  mental  stimulus. 
Place  now  a  young  minister  in  some  new  Western 

14 


158  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

settlement,  where,  in  his  line,  nothing  yet  is  estab- 
lished, nothing  started  even  ;  where  everybody  and 
every  thing  about  him  is  on  the  quick,  earnest  move ; 
where  are  commingled  from  all  quarters  every  shade 
of  prejudice,  opinion,  and  belief;  and  where  all,  with 
the  trammels  off,  are  free  to  speak  out  just  what 
they  think,  and  he  must  have  some  earnest  mental 
work.  Every  inch  he  gains  here  he  must  get  by 
a  sort  of  conquest.  Aside  from  the  constant  readi- 
ness which  he  must  have  for  hand-to-hand  conflicts 
in  his  neighborly  calls,  the  right  arm  of  power 
in  his  public  preaching  must  be  the  plain  Bible 
truth,  aimed  straight  at  the  mark,  with  an  earnest- 
ness that  means  something.  His  hearers,  if  he 
gets  hearers  at  all,  must  be  drawn  together  and 
held  together,  not  by  the  force  of  family  or  social 
relations,  not  by  the  beauty  of  the  sanctuary  where 
they  meet,  nor  by  the  excellence  of  the  singing ; 
but,  in  the  absence  of  all  these,  it  may  be,  by  the 
presence  of  one  among  them,  positive  and  strong, 
whose  preaching  and  whose  life  are  calculated  to 
produce  the  blessed  fruits  of  the  gospel.  In  all  the 
demands  of  a  growing  country,  he  must  be  a  prac- 
tical man.  If  he  makes  for  himself  a  place,  holds 
it,  and  builds  upon  it,  he  will  and  must  be  an  in- 
tellectually growing  man.  We  do  not  say  that 
Western  men  are  more  completely  developed  intel- 
lectually than  Eastern,  but  that  their  position  is  not, 
on  the  whole,  unfavorable  in  this  respect.  Thrown 
upon  their  own  resources,  and  standing  at  the  head 
of  growing  influences,  which  they  are  called  upon 


LOSS    AND    GAIN.  1 59 

to  gather,  to  hold,  and  to  guide,  they  themselves 
are  compelled  to  grow  in  mental  strength,  energy, 
breadth  of  views,  and  high  Christian  aims.  There 
are  advantages  here,  which,  for  all  the  purposes  of 
earnest  Christian  work  in  the  world,  we  must  claim 
as  items  of  especial  gain. 

The  absence  in  a  new  country  of  established 
customs,  usages,  and  precedents,  has  been  alluded 
to  as  one  of  the  disadvantages  of  a  Western  field. 
The  young  man  who  takes  an  Eastern  church  has 
the  way  prepared  before  him.  In  many  respects, 
he  has  only  to  keep  things  as  they  are,  with  tried 
men  as  advisers,  and  staid  Christians  to  help.  To 
start  anew  in  a  new  country  is  to  start  without  any 
such  aids.  But  even  this  has  its  advantages.  Be- 
sides helping  to  draw  out  of  the  minister  all  there  is 
in  him,  it  is  often  of  use,  both  to  him  and  his  little 
church,  to  be  free  from  the  trammels  of  previous 
customs  and  habits.  Churches  get  into  bad  ways, 
as  well  as  into  good  ones.  Much  as  we  revere  the 
memory  of  our  Puritan  Fathers,  all  wisdom  was 
doubtless  not  with  them.  We  do  not  suppose  that 
New-England  churches  and  institutions  are  such 
perfect  models,  that  there  can  be  no  improvement 
upon  them  ;  neither  do  we  think  that  every  change, 
proposed  or  actual,  is  an  advance.  But  on  this 
Western  field  if  anywhere,  with  the  word  of  God 
for  our  guide,  and  freedom  to  adapt  ourselves  to 
actual  wants  and  circumstances,  we  should  improve 
even  upon  the  excellences  of  the  past.  There 
ought,  as  already  indicated,  to  be  among  us,  in  some 


I6O  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

respects,  better  churches,  better  colleges,  and  bet- 
ter methods  of  doing  things,  than  in  older  regions. 
In  our  peculiar  freedom  to  adopt  new  expedients 
and  plans,  therefore,  we  claim  one  advantage.  If 
we  do  not  use  it  for  improvement,  it  is  because  we 
lack  wisdom  or  grace,  or  both,. to  make  the  most  of 
our  opportunity. 

"  But  there  is,  of  course,  a  loss,"  it  will  be  said, 
"as  to  the  privileges  of  refined  society,  in  going 
West."  To  this  we  say,  "  In  your  refined  society,  so 
called,  there  is  much  that  is  artificial,  formal,  and 
sometimes  hollow.  We  have  learned  that  there  is 
such  a  thing  as  being  civilized  and  refined  almost 
to  death.  Experience  has  proved  it  to  be  a  real 
luxury  at  times  to  get  out  of  the  conventionalities 
of  artificial  life,  into  the  frank  atmosphere  of  true 
"  log-cabin  hospitality."  The  free-and-easy  ways 
of  new-country  socialities  we  heartily  put  down  as 
on  the  side  of  gain,  rather  than  of  loss.  Indeed, 
those  of  us  who  have  been  here  longest  almost 
sigh  for  things  as  they  used  to  be  twenty  years 
ago  ;  when  all  were  more 'upon  a  level,  when  every 
house  was  open  and  every  latch-string  out.  No 
one  need  fear  loss  in  this  direction. 

Some  ministers,  even,  may  like  to  be  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  newspapers,  where  names  somehow 
creep  out  in  public  print  ;  and  near  anniversaries, 
and  platforms,  and  speeches  to  be  heard,  and  — 
made.  There  is  in  this  a  pleasure,  and  a  kind  of 
privilege.  The  only  gain  we  have  to  suggest  here 
is  that  involved  in  laboring  away  from  all  such  in- 


LOSS    AND    GAIN.  l6l 

fluences  in  the  main,  away  from  all  appeals  to- pride 
and  ambition,  in  a  kind  of  obscurity  and  isolation, 
where  the  true  motives  of  the  ministerial  work  have 
a  better  chance  to  operate,  and  where,  as  they  are 
felt,  and  they  alone,  purer  and  richer  rewards  of 
ministerial  labor  are  realized. 

There  is  one  more  point  to  be  considered,  in 
respect  to  which  all  will  doubtless  concede  that  the 
Western  field  has  the  decided  advantage.  It  is  the 
privilege  of  helping  to  make  things  ;  of  growing 
up  with  them,  and  seeing  the  fruit  of  one's  labors. 
"  I  would  rather,"  said  an  old  settler,  —  "I  would 
rather  help  build  a  log  schoolhouse,  and  see  things 
grow,  than  live  in  a  country  that  is  all  made.  "Not- 
withstanding the  hardships  of  a  new  country,  there 
is  little  doubt  that  the  generation  that  makes  a 
country  enjoys  it  better  than  one  that  takes  it  after 
it  is  made.  The  pioneer  minister  shares  in  all  this 
work  of  construction.  It  may  be  in  many  respects 
a  hard  work.  He  begins  low  down,  but  at  every 
upward  step  he  has  a  peculiar  joy.  He  sees  a  little 
flock  gathered  almost  as  "  a  flock  in  the  wilderness." 
He  joyfully  shares  their  first  communion-season. 
The  earthen  plate  and  glass  tumbler  are  in  due 
time  exchanged  for  a  real  communion-service.  He 
sees,  in  different  directions,  gospel  institutions  and 
influences  beginning  to  take  shape  around  him. 
At  length  a  meeting-house  is  built.  This  is  for 
him  a  great  day.  He  sees  how  that  new  house  of 
worship  helps  to  make  for  him  nearly  a  new  con 
gregation,  a  new  Sabbath  school,  and  of  himself 

14* 


l62  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

almost  a  new  minister.  Most  of  all  does  he  rejoice, 
when,  in  connection  with  this  new  sanctuary,  as  is 
often  the  case,  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  comes  down, 
and  the  spiritual  keeps  progress,  with  the  material. 
Men  who  gave  of  their  money  for  the  material 
temple  are  often  the  first  to  be  brought  as  lively 
stones  into  the  spiritual  building. 

So  he  goes  on,  with  fresh  joy  at  every  step. 
Home-missionary  churches  become  self-sustaining, 
and  their  pastors  find  themselves  in  a  developed 
country,  with  the  fruits  of  their  labors  about  them. 
The  frontier  fields  of  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago 
are  now  in  the  heart  of  the  country  ;  and  those  who 
entered  them  with  the  feeling  that  they  were  going 
so  far  away  as  scarcely  ever  to  be  heard  from,  find 
that  they  were  striking  for  the  very  centres  of 
position  and  power.  This,  however,  was  by  the 
direction  of  God's  wisdom,  not  theirs.  In  all  this 
there  is  great  gain.  He  who  labors  from  year  to 
year  with  an  Eastern  church,  that,  by  dint  of  hard 
work,  simply  holds  its  own,  is  doing  a  good  work. 
He  who  in  faithfulness  stands  by  a  waning  church, 
whose  young  people  are  all  leaving,  renders  a  noble 
and  self-sacrificing  service.  In  each  case  there  is 
faith  and  heroism  ;  but,  if  God  will,  it  is  pleasanter 
to  see  results  accomplished,  to  feel  the  throb  of 
enterprise  and  progress  around  us,  and  to  see  new 
forces  fast  accumulating,  through  which  the  little 
we  do  shall  tell  for  good  in  the  ages  to  come.  In 
this  is  our  especial  gain. 

Some  may  dislike,  possibly,  the  first  relations  in 


LOSS    AND    GAIN.  163 

which,  so  far  as  our  denomination  is  concerned,  the 
process  just  alluded  to  in  this  Western  country  is 
generally  begun,  —  the  relations  of  a  home-mission- 
ary in  connection  with  a  little  home-missionary 
church,  or  some  new  place  yet  churchless.  But  is 
there  not  something  good,  yea,  noble,  even  in  this  ? 
When  one  thinks  of  the  prayers  offered  for  home- 
missionaries,  is  it  not  good  to  be  one  of  them  ? 
When  one  thinks  of  the  Christian  donors  who  give 
so  freely  for  home-missions  at  the  West,  is  it  not 
good  to  be  an  almoner  of  their  bounties  ?  When 
one  thinks  of  what  it  is  to  plant  and  foster  a  Chris- 
tian church  in  a  new  country,  he  may  well  rejoice 
in  the  work,  and  gladly  accept  the  relations  in 
which  so  many  are  co-workers  with  him.  Bring- 
ing his  little  church,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  up  to 
self-support,  he  may  well  feel  that  his  work,  though 
humble,  is  yet  a  great  and  good  one.  He  who,  on 
mission-ground,  has  done  it  once,  twice,  or  thrice,  is 
an  honored  servant  in  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  Sur- 
veying thus  the  past,  we  claim  no  honor,  no  great- 
ness, but  bless  God  for  opening  before  us  a  field 
in  relation  to  which,  as  we  balance  the  loss  and  the 
gain  as  compared  with  fields  that  might  have  been 
found  nearer  our  Eastern  homes,  we  are  constrained 
to  say,  No  loss  :  especially  gain  ! 

.  Were  youth  renewed  with  our  past  experience, 
we  are  quite  sure,  if  allowed  of  God,  we  would 
strike  for  some  new  field,  only  careful  that  it  were 
small  enough  for  us  at  the  first,  and  then  to  grow. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

IN  MEMORIAM. 

HITHERTO  my  life  has  been  preparatory. 
I  want  to  live :  yes,  when  I  think  what 
God  will  do  for  Iowa  in  the  next  twenty  years 
I  want  to  live,  and  be  an  actor  in  it."  Thus  ex- 
claimed one  who  came  here  to  labor  in  the  ardor 
of  youth,  but  was  early  called  to  die. 

Looking  back  through  our  quarter  of  a  century, 
we  recall  others  who  have  also  fallen  by  the  way. 
It  is  due  to  them,  and  meet  for  us,  that  they  should 
.have  a  place  in  these  reminiscences.  The  names 
of  all,  of  course,  cannot  appear  ;  only  such  as  stand 
freshest  in -mind  as  we  take  our  backward  look. 

The  words  quoted  at  the  opening  of  this  chapter 
were  those  of  the  one  first  taken,  and  he  from  the 
Band.  This  was  Horace  Hutchinson.  He  died 
at  Burlington,  March  7,  1 846.  He  was  a  native  of 
Sutton,  Mass.,  a  graduate  of  Amherst  College  in 
1839,  and  of  Andover  Seminary  in  1843.  His 
disease  was  hereditary  consumption,  against  which, 
for  years,  he  had  been  struggling.  Not  quite  thirty 
years  of  age,  having  been  permitted  but  little  over 
two  years  to  prosecute  his  Master's  work,  to  which 
he  had  become  ardently  attached,  and  for  which, 


IN    MEMORIAM.  165 

by  his  natural  enthusiasm  and  richness  of  intel- 
lectual culture,  no  less  than  his  culture  of  heart, 
he  was  eminently  fitted,  and  just  settled  most  hap- 
pily in  his  domestic  relations,  —  it  was  no  wonder 
that  he  felt  that  he  was  just  ready  to  live,  and 
wanted  to  live  ;  that  it  was  hard  to  die.  Yet  he  was 
cheerful,  resigned,  and  ready.  His  end  was  peace. 
What  a  breach  was  made  in  our  ranks,  not  only 
as  we  missed  the  light  of  his  cheerful  face,  and  the 
warmth  of  his  genial  nature,  but  felt,  that,  in  all 
plans  for  Iowa,  the  benefit  of  his  sound  judgment 
and  hearty  aid,  on  which  we  had  begun  to  rely, 
were  so  soon  removed  !  How,  by  this  early  death 
among  us,  was  our  work  more  seriously  and  de- 
voutly apprehended  !  How  keen  was  our  sym- 
pathy with  her  who  was  thus  early  called  to 
exchange  bridal  robes  for  weeds  of  mourning ! 
Though  removing  soon  after  from  the  Territory, 
and  entering  into  new  relations  in  a  neighboring 
State,  she  was  still  reckoned  as  one  of  us.  Mrs. 
H.,  for  a  time  Principal  of  Abbott  Female  Semi- 
nary at  Andover,  Mass.,  was  subsequently  married 
to  the  Rev.  S.  J.  Humphrey,  April  18,  1854,  and  died 
at  Newark,  O.,  Aug.  18,  1860.  She  was  born  at 
Grafton,  Mass.,  Feb.  20,  1823. .  Thus,  by  that  first 
death,  did  God  teach  that  there  were  paths  of 
sorrow  for  us  to  tread,  as  well  as  of  hope,  success, 
and  joy.  The  lesson  has  been  again  and  again 
repeated.  It  will  be  pardoned,  perhaps,  if  we 
follow  these  providences,  first  in  reference  to  the 
Band. 


1 66  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

Four  years  passed  away  before  the  second  came. 
Eliza  C.  Robbins  died  at  Muscatine,  July  16,  1850. 
She -was  a  native  of  Canterbury,  Conn. ;  born  June  7, 
1819  ;  was  married  Sept.  27,  1843,  and  started  in  a 
few  days  as  one  of  the  only  two  wives  in  that  first 
journey  westward.  Her  lot,  as  has  been  told,  was 
cast  in  what  was  then  called  Bloomington,  now 
a  Muscatine.  She  accepted  it  heartily.  With 
natural  overflow  of  good  feeling,  and  a  happy  turn 
in  all  circumstances,  she  easily  accommodated 
herself  to  the  numberless  annoyances  and  discom- 
forts of  a  new  country.  In  no  home  were  the 
bachelor  brethren  more  welcome  than  in  hers. 
Putting  everybody  at  ease  in  her  presence,  she  won 
rapidly  upon  the  hearts  of  the  people.  For  seven 
swift  years  did  she  act  her  part,  singing  as  she 
went,  with  a  joyous  heart ;  and  then  her  work  was 
suddenly  ended.  The  cholera,  that  for  a  summer 
or  two  raged  on  the  river,  seized  her  as  a  victim, 
and  in  a  few  hours  she  was  dead.  Behind  her 
were  left  a  stricken  husband,  three  little  children, 
a  bereaved  people,  and  many  mourning  friends,  — 
mourning,  yet  comforted  ;  for  a  cheerful  light  plays 
about  the  sadness  of  that  hour,  as  they  remember 
how  she  passed  away  in  the  strength  of  that  beau- 
tiful psalm,  "The  Lord  is  my  shepherd,"  which 
was  read  to  her  by  a  kind  Christian  friend  in  the 
moments  while  she  was  still  conscious,  but  unable 
to  speak. 

Two  years  later,  a  third  bereavement  came.      In 
this  case,  too,  a  wife  was  taken.     Sarah    E.   Hill 


IN    MEMORIAM.  l6/ 

died  May  21,  1852.  She  was  born  in  Bath,  Me., 
Aug.  8,  1 823,  and  was,  therefore,  twenty-nine  years 
of  age.  As  a  worker,  she  was  confined  to  a  'few 
short  years  ;  but  they  were  years  filled  with  the 
glowing  enthusiasm  of  an  ardent  soul.  Entering 
with  zeal  on  the  mission-work,  she  attached  herself 
at  once  to  every  thing  in  Iowa.  All  the  brethren, 
all  the  sisters,  all  the  churches,  every  thing  in  and 
about  her  adopted  State,  was  hers.  Into  every  plan 
and  method  of  mission-labor  she  threw  her  whole 
soul.  The  college,  now  in  its  prosperity,  is  the 
result,  in  part,  of  her  faith  and  her  gifts.  It  is  not 
strange,  that,  to-day,  her  two  sons,  as  Christian 
young  men,  are  on  the  lists  of  its  students  ;  for,,  in 
their  infancy,  she  gave  them  heartily  and  believ- 
ingly  to  the  Lord.  After  the  labors  of  eight 
years,  —  some  of  them  at  frontier  points,  where 
mission-work  meant  hardship  and  privation,  —  she 
has  found  her  grave  on  the  banks  of  the  Missis- 
sippi. Summer  by  summer  there  are  those  passing 
up  and  down  the  river  who  are  wont  to  think, 
"  There  on  those  beautiful  bluffs  was  our  sister 
buried."  How  soon  all  such  travellers  shall  cease  ! 
A  few  more  years,  and  God  spake  again  :  this 
time,  also,  by  the  removal  of  a  wife  and  sister.  As 
her  name  is  written,  all  who  knew  her  will  remem- 
ber her  quiet,  gentle  ways,  the  sweetness  of  her 
disposition,  the  steady,  humble  traits  of  her  Chris- 
tian character.  Naturally  retiring,  she  found  her 
province  and  her  sway  chiefly  in  the  realms  of 
domestic  life,  and  yet  won  esteem  and  influence  in 


1 68  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

wider  circles.  It  was  with  apprehension  that  we 
saw  the  paleness  of  her  cheek,  amid  the  devotion 
of  a  wife  and  the  cares  of  a  mother ;  but  we  feel 
now  that  it  was  meet  that  a  spirit  like  hers  should 
be  taken  to  a  better  world.  Harriet  R.  Ripley 
was  born  at  Drakesville,  N.J.,  Sept.  13,  1820,  and 
died  at  Davenport,  April  4,  1857,  at  the  age  of 
thirty-seven. 

It  remains  for  one  more  lesson  to  be  noted. 
This  time  it  is  the  death  of  a  brother ;  bringing  us 
down  to  March  31,  1867.  Then  died,  in  Ottumwa, 
B.  A.  Spaulding,  the  second  of  the  Band  now 
deceased.  He  was  truly  a  man  of  God.  Pos- 
sessed of  more  intellectual  worth  than  it  was  his 
ambition  to  show,  his  aim  was,  in  a  frontier  field,  in 
the  true  home-missionary  spirit,  to  lay  foundations 
for  Christ.  This  he  did  in  many  a  heart  and  in 
many  a  place.  At  the  first,  his  was  pre-eminently 
the  work  of  an  evangelist.  Travelling  on  horseback 
over  the  New  Purchase,  he  had  twenty-five  or 
thirty  different  places  of  meeting,  some  of  them  a 
hundred  miles  apart ;  preaching  in  groves  and 
cabins,  and  organizing  churches,  where,  ten  years 
before,  had  been  the  Indian  dance.  For  years  he 
toiled  thus,  till,  in  due  time,  it  was  his  privilege  to 
see  the  heaven-pointing  spires,  to  hear  church- 
going  bells,  and  to  welcome  new  laborers  in  that 
at  first  wild  and  uncultivated  region. 

It  was  in  these  years  that  he  subsequently 
declared  he  had  more  joys,  amid  greater  hardships, 
than  at  any  other  period  of  his  life.  Gradually  his 


IN    MEMORIAM.  1 69 

labors  were  contracted  within  narrower  limits,  till 
he  became  the  pastor  of  the  church  in  the  place 
he  at  first  selected  as  his  home,  and  where  he  died. 
It  was  his  privilege  to  be  an  actor  in  the  twenty 
years  for  which  Brother  Hutchinson  longed  ;•  and 
yet  he  was  not  satisfied.  His  disease,  too,  was  con- 
sumption ;  and,  as  it  began  to  be  apparent  that  he 
must  yield  to  it,  his  words  were,  "  Oh  to  do  more 
for  Jesus  !  Oh  for  ten  years  to  live,  and  do  some- 
thing for  Christ !  "  But  his  work  was  done  ;  and 
he  was  resigned,  as,  on  a  Saturday  night,  the  death- 
shades  gathered  thick  about  him.  "  Is  this  the 
dark  valley  ?  "  he  inquired.  Being  told  that  it  was, 
"  It  will  not  be  long/'  he  said.  "  Will  it  last  till 
morning  ? "  It  did  last  till  morning.  At  the 
Sabbath  dawn  he  passed  up  to  the  day  of  rest. 
He  was  born  in  Billerica,  Mass.,  July  20,  1815  ; 
was  a  graduate  of  Harvard  College  and  Andover 
Seminary.  Dying  March  31,  1867,  he  was  fifty- 
two  years  of  age.  He  left  a  wife  and  one  child. 

We  have  now  noticed  where  a  husband  or  a  wife 
has,  in  repeated  instances,  been  taken.  Meanwhile, 
children  have  been  born,  and  children,  too,  have 
died  ;  but  of  them  we  cannot  speak  in  detail.  We 
must  be  content  with  this  bare  recognition  of  God's 
chastening  hand  in  their  removal.  Changes  have 
been  going  on  outside  the  Band.  A  few  names 
will  be  given,  such  as  are  freshest  in  the  mind  of 
the  writer.  In  other  minds,  doubtless,  there  are 
other  names  not  given,  just  as  fresh  and  just  as 
worthy  of  mention  as  those  that  will  appear. 

15 


I/O  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

First,  as  intimately  associated  with,  because  near 
as  to  time  and  place  to,  that  of  Mrs.  Hill,  was  the 
death  of  Brother  Thompson.  William  A.  Thomp- 
son died  May  3,  1852.  All  who  were  in  the  State 
at  that  time  remember  the  mystery  that  shrouded 
this  calamity.  Judging  from  his  intentions  when 
he  left  home,  and  the  position  of  his  horse  and 
buggy  when  found,  it  was  thought  he  must  have 
been  drowned  in  attempting  to  row  a  frail  skiff 
across  an  arm  of  the  Mississippi,  in  high  water 
and  a  boisterous  wind.  There  were  suspicions  of 
foul  play,  but  they  were  not  regarded  as  well 
founded.  For  weeks,  search  was  made  for  his  body 
in  vain.  Standing  by  the  newly-made  grave  of  our 
sister,  upon  the  bluffs  overlooking  the  waters  of  the 
Mississippi,  the  thought  was, "  There,  somewhere,  is 
the  grave  of  our  brother."  The  following  June,  as 
the  brethren  were  holding  their  annual  Association 
at  Muscatine,  a  few  were  walking,  at  a  leisure  hour, 
by  the  river's  side,  when  a  human  body  was  seen 
floating  towards  the  bank.  Was  it,  could  it  be,  that 
of  their  brother  ?  This  was  the  question  that 
flashed  on  their  minds.  It  soon  appeared  almost 
to  a  certainty  that  it  was  even  so :  yet  to  identify 
the  body  was  difficult.  Of  the  signs,  they  were  not 
absolutely  sure.  A  garment  sent  to  the  anxious, 
weary  wife  established  the  fact.  Thus,  sixty  miles 
below  where  the  sad  accident  occurred,  God  brought 
to  us  the  consolation,  that  at  least  the  body  of  our 
brother  had  been  found.  We  buried  it  in  the  same 
ground  where  was  buried  the  first  sister  taken. 


IN    MEMORIAM.  I/I 

Brother  Thompson  was  a  good  man,  —  humble, 
earnest,  and  prayerful.  Entering  the  State  at  the 
same  time  with  the  brethren  of  the  Band,  he  was 
reckoned  as  one  of  them.  His  loss  was  deeply 
felt  by  all. 

Those  here  in  the  autumn  of  1853  remember  the 
joy  occasioned  by  the  arrival  of  two  young  men, 
apparently  in  the  vigor  of  life,  directly  from  their 
seminary  studies.  Mysterious  has  always  seemed 
their  fate.  One  of  them,  as  he  entered  his  field, 
seemed  to  labor  as  with  the  blessing  of  God  on 
him,  —  a  young  man  of  rare  mental  and  social  quali- 
ties, and  ardent  piety.  How  astounding  was  the 
news  of  his  sudden  illness  and  death  !  Strong  were 
the  sympathies  that  his  young  wife  carried  back 
with  her  to  her  Eastern  home.  The  brother  here 
referred  to  was  E.  C.  A.  Woods,  who  died  at  Wa- 
pello,  Nov.  4,  1854.  Born  in  Newport,  N.H.,  Sep- 
tember, 1824,  he  was  thirty  years  of  age. 

The  other  was  Oliver  Dimon,  who  went  to  Keo- 
sauqua.  By  his  excellences  he  gathered  about 
him  the  affections  of  his  people.  But  disease  was 
on  him  ;  and  he  soon  became  prostrated,  and  was 
carried  back  to  his  Eastern  home  to  die. 

Similar  to  these  cases  was  that  of  another,  who 
had  been  trained  among  us.  Joseph  Bloomer  was 
converted  in  one  of  our  churches,  a  member  once 
of  our  college,  though  he  graduated  at  Amherst 
in  1856.  From  the  first,  so  eager  was  he  to  be  in 
the  field,  that  he  could  not  wait  the  usual  course  of 
study.  It  was  well,  perhaps,  in  his  case,  as  one  des- 


1/2  THE lOWA    BAND. 

tined  to  early  death,  that  he  did  not.  He  went  to 
McGregor  late  in  1857.  His  labors  were  limited 
to  a  few  brief  months  ;  but  they  were  months  of 
much  zeal  and  great  promise.  The  people  felt 
the  power  of  an  earnest  preacher  among  them. 
"  Sharper  sermons,"  said  one,  "  I  never  heard,  than 
fell  from  his  lips.  I  do  not  know,  but,  under  God, 
he  would  have  converted  the  whole  town  had  he 
lived."  He  died  suddenly,  Feb.  21,  1858. 

Another  called  from  his  work  on  earth  was  L.  R. 
White.  He,  too,  was  a  young  man  ;  though  he  was 
permitted  to  labor  several  years  among  us, —  first  at 
Le  Claire,  then  at  Summit,  and  then  at  Brighton. 
At  Le  Claire,  with  great  labor,  he  secured  the  erec- 
tion of  a  house  of  worship.  Many  a  one  knows 
the  toil  recorded  in  that  brief  sentence.  At  Brigh- 
ton he  did  the  same  thing.  The  sad  fact  in  our 
memories  is,  that  the  first  gathering  held  in  the 
new  meeting-house  was  that  convened  at  his 
funeral.  'His  death  was  occasioned  by  a  cold,  to- 
gether with  over-exertion  in  his  efforts  to  secure 
the  completion  of  the  house  at  a  given  time.  He 
wrought,  as  many  another  missionary  has  done, 
with  his  own  hands.  He  died  at  Brighton,  May 
30,  1858. 

Later  down,  a  father  in  the  ministry  is  taken. 
Alfred  Wright  died  at  Durango,  Nov.  8,  1865. 
Few  who  ever  knew  him  will  soon  forget  the 
inward  grace  that  shone  out  on  his  cheerful  face. 
So,  also,  we  think  of  French,  Waters,  Mather, 
Brown,  Leonard,  and  others. 


IN    MEMORIAM.  1 73 

Meanwhile,  sisters  were  also  passing  away. 
There  was  one  under  whose  roof,  in  the  earlier 
years,  we  used  always  to  find  a  hearty  welcome,  and 
whose  calm  trust  and  cheerful  endurance  preached 
us  many  a  sermon ;  who,  after  years  of  suffering, 
died  in  the  triumphant  hope  of  joys  to  come.  This 
was  Mrs.  Emerson.  She  closed  her  life  at  Sabula, 
January,  1856. 

A  few  months  earlier,  one  who  had  recently  come 
among  us,  and  was  just  entering  joyously  into  our 
Iowa  work,  was  called  to  the  higher  service  of 
heaven,  Mrs.  Sarah  W.  Guernsey  died  at  Du- 
buque,  May  10,  1855.  Her  remains  rest  in  the  old 
burial-ground  at  New  Haven,  Conn.  Pleasant 
memories  of  her  and  her  Christian  activities  will 
long  linger  with  those  who  then  composed  her  hus- 
band's flock. 

Another  was  Mrs.  Abby  A.  Magoun,  a  sister  of 
Mrs.  Hill.  Of  gentle  nature,  she  was  firm  in  the 
service  of  Christ.  As  a  Christian  woman,  a  mother, 
and  a  pastor's  wife,  she  adorned  her  calling  and 
station.  She,  too,  sleeps  on  the  banks  of  our  beau- 
tiful river.  Her  death  was  at  Lyons,  Feb.  10,  1864. 

We  must  speak  of  another,  who,  a  little  later,  died 
at  Durant,Dec.  7,  1866, — Mrs.  Mary  F.  Bullen.  We 
could  not,  if  we  would,  efface  from  our  minds  the 
sweetness  of  the  expression  she  wore.  Not  even 
by  death's  cold  touch  shall  it  be  marred.  We  well 
remember  it,  as  turned  to  a  heavenly  smile. 

There  are  memories,  too,  of  dear  brethren  of  the 
churches,  —  of  the  hospitable  Edwards  ;  the  venera- 

15* 


1/4  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

ble  Cotton,  a  lineal  descendant  of  old  John  Cotton  of 
Boston  ;  of  Father  Vincent,  who,  at  one  of  our  meet- 
ings, said,  the  brethren  were  all  daguerreotyped  on 
his  mind  ;  of  brethren,  too,  at  the  East,  who  in  heart 
have  been  with  us  and  of  us,  such  as  Mackintire, 
Carter,  and  others.  How  many  come  to  mind,  who 
to-day  are  with  the  multitude  around  the  throne  ; 
who  rest  from  their  labors,  and  their  works  do 
follow  them ! 

In  the  summer  of  1863,  during  the  Associational 
Meeting  at  Burlington,  a  few  of  the  brethren,  with 
their  wives,  went  out  to  the  grave  of  their  Brother 
Hutchinson.  Gathering  around  it,  with  uncovered 
heads,  they  bowed  in  prayer  to  God  that  the  man- 
tle of  all  that  was  excellent  in  him  might  fall 
upon  them. 

As  we  linger  thus  among  the  memories  of  the 
departed,  may  all  that  was  noble  in  their  lives  and 
excellent  in  their  characters  be  with  us  that  re- 
main, to 'stimulate  and  to  cheer,  till  our  race,  too, 
shall  be  run,  and  we  shall  be  reckoned  with  them ! 

Since  the  foregoing  was  written,  and  while  this 
work  is  going  through  the  press,  another  name  is 
to  be  added  to  those  of  the  Band  who  have  gone. 
Erastus  Ripley  died  Feb.  21,  1870,  in  Somers, 
Conn.,  aged  55.  He  was  born  in  Coventry,  Conn., 
March  15,  A.D.  1815  ;  was  a  graduate  of  Union 
College ;  also  of  Andover  Seminary,  in  tl\e  class  of 
1843.  Elected  as  resident  licentiate,  he  remained  at 
Andover  till  the  spring  of  1844,  when  he  joined  his 


IN    MEMORIAM.  1/5 

classmates  in  Iowa,  taking  charge  of  the  church  in 
Bentonsport.  He  remained  at  this  place  till  the 
summer  of  1848,  when  he  was  chosen  the  first  pro- 
fessor of  Iowa  College  at  Davenport.  From  this 
time  he  was  identified  with  the  interests  of  the  col- 
lege ;  at  first  the  only,  afterwards  associate,  teacher, 
as  Carter  Professor  of  Ancient  Languages,  until  the 
time  of  its  removal  to  Grinnell  in  1859.  Shortly  after 
this  he  returned  to  his  native  State,  where,  until  his 
death,  he  was  engaged  in  the  profession  of  teach- 
ing, in  which  he  took  a  high  rank.  Mr.  Ripley's 
leading  powers  were  those  of  a  linguist.  He  was 
a  good  preacher,  an  enthusiastic  teacher,  and 
sought  to  lay  all  on  the  altar  for  Christ.  His 
work  is  done,  and  he,  too,  has  passed  away. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

OUTLOOK  AND   CONCLUSION. 

THUS  have  we  cast  our  thoughts  backward. 
For  a  moment  we  have  held  this  fair  land  in 
view,  as,  but  a  few  years  ago,  its  forests,  its  prairies, 
its  rivers,  were  vast  solitudes  of  Nature's  richness 
and  beauty,  which  for  centuries  had  waited  the 
magic  touch  of  civilized  life.  Here,  with  the 
thronging  thousands,  have  the  lives  of  those  of  us 
that  have  been  in  Iowa  for  the  last  three,  five,  ten, 
twenty,  or  thirty  years,  entered  in. 

By  these  reminiscences,  in  the  changes  wrought, 
have  we  been  led  to  think  of  our  individual  work 
and  associated  labors.  We  have  thought,  too, —  and 
perhaps,' in  passing,  have  shed  the  tear  of  affection 
as  we  have  thought, —  of  thos.e  who  entered  with  us, 
and  have  fallen  by  the  way.  In  the  midst  of  the 
serious  and  the  sad,  there  has  been  much  to  encour- 
age and  rejoice.  We  have  not  labored  in  vain ;  but 
th£  end  is  not  yet.  To  the  most  of  us  that  have 
been  here  even  the  longest,  life,  with  somewhat  of 
health  and  vigor,  is  still  spared ;  and  work  yet 
remains. 

We  take  not  our  review  as  in  evening's  shade, 
with  the  armor  off,  awaiting  repose ;  but  as  at 
noontide  heat,  with  the  outlook  of  demands,  oppor- 


OUTLOOK  AND  CONCLUSION.         I// 

tunities,  and  labors  before  us  of  the  declining  day. 
And  what  see  we  here  ?  A  mighty  State,  which  as 
yet  even  is  but  in  the  dawn  of  its  development. 
Of  her  area  of  fifty-five  thousand  square  miles, 
there  are  two-thirds,  or  twenty-five  millions,  of  its 
rich  acres  that  as  yet  bear  upon  them  the  native 
prairie  sod.  Already  the  fourth  State  in  the  Union 
in  the  production  of  some  of  the  cereals,  what  is  it 
yet  to  be  ?  It  is  only  here  and  there  that  her  water- 
courses, abundant  in  their  privileges,  have  been 
made  to  turn  the  busy  wheels  of  art ;  while  her 
extensive  fields  of  minerals  and  coal  have  but  just 
begun  to  be  worked.  Her  system  of  railroads  — 
with  near  two  thousand  miles  already  in  operation, 
with  the  converging  lines  meeting  on  its  western 
border,  there  to  unite  with  the  great  Pacific  —  is  yet 
to  be  completed.  Then  will  she  lie,  as  favored  of 
God,  on  the  great  highway  of  the  nations,  and  as 
central  therein.  Then  by  her  roads  and  rivers  she 
will  send  out  from  and  draw  to  herself,  as  she  lists, 
from  the  North  and  the  South,  the  East  and  the 
West. 

It  only  remains  for  a  growing  population  to  carry 
out  and  develop  all  these  resources  garnered  in 
her  bosom.  A  guarantee  for  this  we  have  in  the 
record  of  the  past.  In  1836,  the  population  was 
ten  thousand  ;  in  1846,  ninety-seven  thousand  ;  in 
1856,  five  hundred  and  nineteen  thousand.  Now, 
in  1870,  it  is  estimated  at  one  million  and  a 
quarter.  How  it  will  stand  when  he  who  re- 
views the  next  quarter  -  century  shall  announce 


178  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

the  figures,  a  conjecture  will  not  be  hazarded. 
Nor  as  to  the  scenes  of  development  and  pro- 
gress which  it  will  be  his  privilege  to  unfold,  will 
any  prophecy  be  made.  Only  this  :  if  by  the  ap- 
pliances of  education,  virtue,  piety,  religion,  the 
tone  and  vigor  of  the  people  can  be  kept  up  and 
improved  ;  if  her  schools,  colleges,  institutions,  and 
churches  can  be  made  to  act  well  their  part,  —  the 
results  in  this  State  for  the  country,  the  world,  and 
for  God,  will  be  glorious.  Here,  then,  with  all 
others  of  the  good  and  the  true,  is  our  work  and 
our  labor.  If,  to  any,  the  sun  of  his  day  seems  to 
be  hanging  low,  let  him  do  with  his  might  what  his 
hand  findeth  to  do.  Surely,  in  Iowa  even,  the 
mission-field  is  but  just  entered. 

But  let  us  extend  our  view.  West  of  us  there  is 
already  a  region  containing  four  millions  of  people, 
where,  twenty-five  years  ago,  there  were  none. 
Here  is  opening  the  West  of  to-day.  Here  are 
almost  two-thirds  of  our  national  domain,  all  organ- 
ized into  States  or*  Territories,  rapidly  filling  up, 
but  as  yet,  in  the  main,  almost  destitute  of  the 
institutions  of  the  gospel.  In  Washington  Terri- 
tory, with  its  seventy  thousand  square  miles  ;  Idaho, 
with  its  one  hundred  thousand  ;  Montana,  a  third 
larger  still  ;  Utah,  New  Mexico,  Arizona,  Nevada, 
none  of  them  smaller  than  the  others,  some  larger, 
—  in  all  these,  the  number  of  the  laborers  of  our 
order  can  to-day  be  counted  upon  one's  fingers, 
while  that  of  all  other  denominations  is  small. 
This  is  not  from  want  of  people,  but  because  the 


OUTLOOK   AND    CONCLUSION. 

laborers  are  few.  The  tide  of  population  from  all 
parts  of  the  world  stays  not,  and  the  work  grows. 
Here,  truly,  our  home-mission  field  is  almost  bound- 
less. Nor  is  this  all.  The  work  is  far  from  being 
complete  in  the  States  east  of  us,  as  well  as  in  our 
own  ;  while  all  over  the  South,  the  cry,  no  doubt, 
will  yet  be  heard,  "  Come  and  help  us  also."  The 
spectacle  before  us  is  almost  appalling  :  it  is  really 
so  if  we  gaze  long  enough  to  see  in  the  character 
of  our  people,  and  the  genius  of  our  government, 
the  necessity,  the  absolute  necessity,  of  the  gospel  of 
Jesus  Christ  to  fuse  us  as  one,  to  purify  and  preserve. 
Failing  to  supply  this,  our  nation  fails,  becoming  as 
effete  and  worthless  without  the  preserving  salt. 
There  are  certain  notorious  facts  that  may  well 
alarm  us.  Not  only  are  there  alarming  destitutions 
in  the  newer  portions  of  the  country,  but  there  is 
equally  alarming  indifference  in  the  older.  A  fourth 
part  of  our  thirty-seven  millions  of  people  are  habit- 
ual neglecters  of  public  worship.  Organized  efforts 
are  made  in  many  quarters  to  break  down  the  sanc- 
tity of  the  Sabbath.  Infidelity  is  rife.  The  press  is  in 
a  great  measure  corrupted  and  corrupting.  Profan- 
ity, intemperance,  corruption,  political  and  financial, 
are  sadly  prevalent.  These  influences  must  be 
withstood,  if  our  country  is  to  be  safe.  The  only 
efficient  counteracting  influence  is  the  gospel,  the 
gospel  for  the  people.  The  work  of  giving  it  must 
ever  be  largely  a  home-mission  work.  Even  now, 
with  such  an  outlook  before  us,  we  seem  to  stand 
only  at  the  threshold  of  the  home-missionary  enter- 
prise. 


ISO  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

After  looking  at  the  past  in  what  now  seems  to 
be  this  little  field  of  Iowa,  with  this  glance  around 
and  before  us,  reflections  of  various  sorts  crowd 
thick  upon  us.  In  the  utterance  of  a  few  will  be 
found  our  conclusion. 

For  the  Executive  Committee  and  the  Secretaries 
of  the  Society  prosecuting  this  great  home-work  : 
It  is  yours  to  stand  as  upon  the  watch-tower,  sur- 
veying the  wants  of  this  vast,  outspreading  field, 
and  to  make  report  of  the  same  to  the  people.  It 
is  yours  to  direct  the  money  and  the  men  volunteered 
for  their  supply,  and  to  report  of  progress  made. 
You  stand  as  at  the  very  centre  of  the  whole.  Of 
the  responsibilities  of  your  position,  the  great  trust 
reposed  in  you  by  the  churches,  we  have  not  a 
word  to  say.  These  you  have  well  considered,  and 
no  one  else  can  feel  them  as  you  can.  Nor  is  it  an 
exhortation  to  be  faithful  that  we  presume  to  offer, 
but  simply  an  All  Hail !  in  your  great  and  glorious 
work  ;  to  join  with  you  in  thanks  to  God  for  his 
blessing  upon  it  in  the  past,  with  a  hearty  God- 
speed for  you  in  the  future.  May  enlarged  wisdom 
and  grace  be  given  you  for  the  enlarged  and  grow- 
ing wants  of  the  field  ! 

For  the  donors  :  If  you  have  wasted  money 
anywhere,  it  is  not  in  this  work.  Here,  bread  cast 
upon  the  waters  returns  again  after  not  many  days. 
Here  is  a  great  and  growing  want,  which,  so  far  as 
you  are  concerned,  money  alone,  with  prayer,  can 
supply.  For  your  money,  then,  we  appeal  in  the 
name  of  all  that  is  near,  dear,  and  precious,  —  in  the 


OUTLOOK  AND  CONCLUSION.         l8l 

name  of  home,  country,  Christ,  and  souls.  Fill  up 
the  treasury  at  New  York,  that,  for  the  want  of 
money,  this  great  work  stay  not.  In  money  are 
the  sinews  of  war.  We  found  it  so  in  the  great 
struggle  just  passed  ;  and  how  like  water  was  it 
poured  out !  How  selfish,  how  mean,  and  how  sor- 
did, he  who  would  hoard  it  then  !  But  a  greater 
conflict  is  now  raging  between  the  good  and  the  evil, 
all  over  the  land.  It  is  the  old  warfare  of  the  two 
kingdoms  ;  and  never,  in  any  country,  was  the 
conflict  sharper  than  in  ours  now.  Never  before 
was  such  a  prize  to  be  lost  and  won.  On  the  one  side 
are  the  standards  of  the  arch-enemy,  and  many  are 
flocking  thereto  :  on  the  other  is  the  banner  of 
the  cross.  That  victory  may  perch  upon  it,  the 
great  thing  needed  is,  that  churches,  mission- 
churches  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  be  planted 
everywhere,  out  upon  the  frontiers,  up  and  down 
the  land,  as  outposts,  forts,  and  citadels  of  the  fight. 
Will  you  furnish  the  means  ? 

For  the  young  men :  Men  are  needed  as  well  as 
means.  You  in  colleges  and  seminaries,  with  the 
ministry  in  view,  and  you  in  the  churches,  that 
have  hearts  that  can  feel  and  tongues  to  express 
the  things  of  Jesus,  let  us  speak  to  you.  A  few 
young  men  there  are  out  in  these  Western  fields, 
who  never  saw  a  seminary  or  college,  who  are  suc- 
cessfully feeding  the  Lord's  flocks  in  the  wilderness. 
Would  that  we  had  hundreds,  yea,  thousands,  of 
them  !  Christian  young  men  in  our  churches,  are 
you,  if  God  will,  just  as  ready  to  be  ministers  as 

16 


1 82  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

you  are  to  be  engineers,  merchants,  or  farmers  ? 
You  that  are  in  colleges  and  seminaries,  are  you 
willing  to  go  anywhere  to  preach  Jesus  ?  "  Send 
me,"  said  one  at  the  home-missionary  rooms,  more 
than  thirty  years  ago,  —  "  send  me  to  the  hardest 
spot  you  have."  They  sent  him  ;  sent  him  where 
it  was  indeed  desolate  and  drear.  But  now,  if  all 
is  not  as  the  garden  of  the  Lord,  he  can  at  least 
look  around  him,  and  behold  the  mighty  things  that 
God  has  wrought.  Young  men,  be  not  afraid  to 
launch  out.  There  are  no  waters  without  the  steps 
of  Jesus  upon  them  ;  and  his  promise,  "  Lo  I  am 
with  you  always,"  reaches  unto  the  ends  of  the 
earth. 

For  our  churches,  the  churches  of  our  beloved 
Iowa  :  The  Lord  hath  blessed  you  ;  but  how  much, 
under  God,  do  you  owe  to  the  Home  Missionary 
Society  !  Recognize  the  debt.  Look  around  you, 
and  see  others  in  want.  Feel  the  obligation  by 
every  means  in  your  power  to  attain  the  point  of 
self-support  at  the  earliest  possible  period,  and  then 
join  in  with  your  helpers,  to  be  the  helpers  of 
others.  The  time  is  coming,  yea,  now  is,  when  the 
churches  of  the  West,  in  the  matter  of  the  great 
benevolent  objects  of  the  day,  must  come  up  to  the 
help  of  the  Lord  as  they  have  never  yet  done. 
Let  not  those  of  Iowa  be  in  the  rear.  Freely 
have  ye  received,  freely  give.  Not  of  your  money 
only  :  of  your  prayers  and  labors  also,  —  the  prayers 
and  labors  of  your  individual  members,  in  the  wise 
work  of  winning  souls  around  you,  that  each  church 


OUTLOOK  AND  CONCLUSION.         183 

may  indeed  be  a  mission-church  for  the  field  within 
its  reach.  By  Sabbath  schools,  teachers  sent  here 
and  there,  by  neighborhood  prayer-meetings,  by 
lay  preaching,  if  you  choose  to  call  it  so,  upon  the 
Sabbath,  by  every  method  within  the  church  and 
around  it,  work  for  Jesus.  In  no  other  way  can 
our  surrounding  wants  be  reached.  We  cannot 
call  for  ministers  to  do  all  the  work.  They  are  not 
to  be  had  ;  and,  if  they  were,  it  is  better  to  be  work- 
ers ourselves.  We  cannot  call  upon  the  Home 
Missionary  Society  for  all  the  needed  help.  It 
would  be  asking  -for  what  it  has  not  to  give ;  and, 
were  all  the  money  and  men  at  its  command  in- 
creased a  hundred  fold,  there  are  central  and  prom- 
ising fields  in  waiting  for  them  all,  in  the  regions 
around  and  beyond.  With  a  limited  supply,  the 
great  work  of  the  Home  Missionary  Society  must 
ever  be  to  gather  up  and  establish  churches.  Let 
but  these  be  true  to  their  work,  let  them  be  mission- 
churches  in  deed,  as  well  as  in  name,  and  the  sys- 
tem will  be  more  complete.  Let  the  churches  of 
Iowa  learn  the  lesson,  and  fill  up  the  work  remain- 
ing to  be  done. 

For  the  ministry  of  Iowa  :  To  you  who  were  on 
the  field  prior  to  1843,  we  cede  the  honor  of  being 
the  pioneers  in  this  blessed  work.  By  you,  in 
many  respects,  were  the  foundations  laid,  the  key- 
note of  the  true  principles  of  our  Christian  work 
and  church-growth  struck.  If,  after  your  years  of 
watching,  waiting,  almost  despairing,  you  recognize 
it  as  of  God  that  youthful  helpers  were  sent  to 


184  THE    IOWA    BAND. 

you,  they  also  recognize  it  as  of  him  that  you 
were  here,  to  be  in  many  respects  their  light  and 
their  guide ;  and,  among  you,  none  more  than  he, 
who,  after  his  forty  years  of  service  in  the  gospel 
ministry,  has  just  laid  off  his  pastoral  harness. 
May  the  Lord  long  spare  him  to  be  to  us  what 
hitherto  he  has  been  ! 

Those  who  have  joined  us  since  1843  will  not 
feel  that  they  are  excluded  in  this  quarter-century 
review  ;  for  they,  too,  have  been  sharers  in  the  work 
accomplished.  Let  each  be  joyous  in  view  of  it, 
according  to  the  time  and  faithfulness  given  to  it. 
May  you,  dear  brethren,  as  faithful  workers  for 
Christ,  be  true  lovers  of  Iowa,  even  as  those  who 
have  been  longest  here  ! 

Finally,  THE  BAND  :  God  hath  been  gracious  to 
us.  Two  only  has  he  taken  by  death  ;  three  have 
been  called  to  other  fields  of  labor ;  seven  yet 
remain.  How  much  longer  we  are  to  labor  here, 
we  know  not.  This  we  know  :  it  is  past  the  noon- 
tide, and  soon,  very  soon,  the  evening  shades  will 
come.  When  the  setting  sun  hangs  low,  God 
grant  that  we  may  look  back  on  a  day  well  spent ! 


IP 

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In 
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